Brazil’s technical director says players adapting to air of expectancy well

SAO PAULO // No coach has led more teams at World Cup finals than Carlos Alberto Parreira.

The Brazilian has taken five countries to international football’s ultimate tournament, but it is the experience he gained at his last outing, in 2010, that is proving especially beneficial this month.

Parreira, 71, led South Africa on home soil in front of an expectant crowd four years ago and while his team became the first host nation to fail to progress through the group, the insight into the added pressure that comes with playing the tournament at home has helped him prepare Brazil this month.

When, in late 2012, Luiz Felipe Scolari was announced as coach and Parreira as technical director, Brazilian media labelled the men as “two sides of a victorious coin”.

Scolari, a winner in 2002; Parreira, a winner in 1970 and 1994. Yet only in South Africa was the pressure on Brazil to win as high as it is on the hosts this month.

“I experienced it in 2010,” Parreira said. “As the home team, the whole country is behind you and supports you, but the whole country also relies on you. You have to be mentally very strong to face the pressure. You have to be prepared, which is what we now are.”

Parreira told his Brazilian players exactly what they should be ready for: inescapable expectancy. Brazil, the country that has won more titles than any other, is always a favourite, but on home soil lifting the trophy is the only form of success.

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“We have to deal with this very well. It is not easy to play at home, but I believe this team is very hungry to be the world champions,” he said.

“They are very motivated to win the World Cup because it is the first time for more than a half a century that we have played it in Brazil. We have to feel privileged and I get the impression they are dealing very well with that.”

The quality of Scolari’s squad has been questioned in recent months. Parreira first worked with Brazil as a fitness coach in 1970, before leading them to their fourth title in 1994 and coaching them to the quarter-finals in 2006. He refuses to draw comparisons with the current squad.

“I have been working with the Brazil national team for a long time. From a 1970 team that included Tostao, Pele, Carlos Alberto and Rivelino to 1994 with Branco, Romario and Bebeto and then 2006 with Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo. I learnt that you do not compare players,” he said.

“OK, we no longer have a Pele, Garrincha, Zico or a Rivelino, but we still have many good players: Neymar, Fred, Paulinho, Marcelo. We play in a different style now because football is different. We have to work hard without the ball, but we still have the technique and are very good at creating chances. We are ready to play a very good World Cup.”

Parreira acknowledges that teams such as Germany, Spain, Argentina and Uruguay could pose a threat to Brazil’s bid for a sixth title, but he said success is the only option.

“We have to say we will win the World Cup. What else can we say? There is no maybe. We have to be very positive. We believe in ourselves, we have the team to do it and the support too,” he said. “We are going to win the World Cup, it is that simple.”

Brazil get the World Cup under way on Thursday when they play Croatia at Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo. They also face Mexico and Cameroon in Group A.

gmeenaghan@thenational.ae