It's nice to see that Menezes believes in Pato's ability and potential. Pato will be playing in the Copa America along with Thiago Silva.

Selecao's Squad for the Upcoming Copa America

Goalkeepers

Victor (Gremio)
Julio Cesar (Inter)

Defenders

Daniel Alves (Barcelona)
Maicon (Inter)
Andre Santos (Fenerbahce)
Adriano (Barcelona)
Lucio (Inter)
Thiago Silva (Milan)
David Luiz (Chelsea)
Luisao (Benfica)

Midfielders

Lucas Leiva (Liverpool)
Ramires (Chelsea)
Sandro (Tottenham)
Jadson (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Elias (Atletico Madrid)
Elano (Santos)
Paulo Henrique Ganso (Santos)
Lucas Silva (Sao Paulo)

Attackers

Robinho (Milan)
Alexandre Pato (Milan)
Fred (Fluminense)
Neymar (Santos)

The midfield is not good at all.Where is Kaka?

In Brazil, they can create 4 or 5 National Teams .. All of which can compete for top prizes .. Brazil is not Kaka dependent

Why not Hulk?

Eh,I don't agree.That midfield is just average.Has two or three good prospects which I doubt are ready to compete in important tournaments,and other average players like Elano,lucas...
So,yes they need Kaka.

Where's Marcelo?

I don't think they need him with Adriano and Santos around.

+1



+1

I hope Menezes doesn't do another Dunga and leave good players out.

Menezes said something about a need for balance. Marcelo in his opinion is too offensive.

USA has fired Bob Bradley and officially hired Jurgen Klinsmann.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/13/united-stat...named-usa-coach

I'm happy we finally have a legit international coach. Hopefully we can finally form a team capable of making a WC run. Any thoughts from the rest of the world? La Palma, any German insights?

Is he really a great coach though? He managerial career bascially consists of 2 jobs where it was easier to succeed than fail, yet he managed to fail at one of them.

How did I know when I opened this thread that Kurt would be here with the predictable pessimism.

I'm very happy to have him as coach, I hope he was given full control of the team, including the youth system. I think he is the right guy for the job.

I heard he has been given full control. I just hope he does well and makes a difference on a system wide level. Of course Kurt is pessimist, can't let the old colonies have the hope of any glory can we?

Yes, because clearly I hate America. What a pathetic response. Instead of just making stupid little comments, tell me where I am wrong I said he failed at 1 of his 2 jobs, unless you guys feel he was a success at Bayern? God forbid you say anything remotely negative around Americans, jesus.

The tone is unnecessary. Let's keep it civilized, shall we?

Klinsmann is yet to be tested. He had a very good status (particularly in Germany) after the World Cup in 2006, when almost everyone begged him to stay at the helm of the National team. I think one of his smart decisions was to quit and keep his aura as a winner.

At Bayern he failed, but it was a curious decision from day one. Both sides (the other being the Bayern management, Hoeneß and Rummenigge) really took this a bit halfheartedly. But in the end, you can very well say that he failed with a transitional Bayern squad.

One thing however is sure - Klinsmann likes the US, he prefers living there and he's always bringing some American coaches with him. So I think he'll do his job not only for the money, but also for his heart. That's a good thing for a NT coach IMO.

World cup draw today at 7pm BST.

Scotland and England could face each other. That would be fun.

Group A
Croatia
Serbia
Belgium
Scotland
Macedonia
Wales

Group B
Italy
Denmark
Czech Republic
Bulgaria
Armenia
Malta

Group C
Germany
Sweden
Republic of Ireland
Austria
Faroe Islands
Kazakhstan

Group D
Holland
Turkey
Hungary
Romania
Estonia
Andorra

Group E
Norway
Slovenia
Switzerland
Albania
Cyprus
Iceland

Group F
Portugal
Russia
Israel
Northern Ireland
Azerbaijan
Luxembourg

Group G
Greece
Slovakia
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Lithuania
Latvia
Lichtenstein

Group H
England
Montenegro
Ukraine
Poland
Moldova
San Marino

Group I
Spain
France
Belarus
Georgia
Finland

Scotland and England both given favourable draws. England should qualify easily enough and Scotland are in with a real chance.

I can't agree there. Montenegro, Ukraine and Poland? No easy at all. Italy, Portugal and Spain don't have it easy, but I'd happily trade groups with any of the other pot 1 teams. Pleased we have one of the real bad teams in World football, I never get to see England play those!

Wales being a lower seed than the Faroes is pretty funny too.

A real chance? Sorry pal, but I don't think so. We're gonna be a tough team to beat, as well as Serbia and the Belgians, and Macedonia isn't that harmless either. It's a pretty even group, and very tough IMO.

I was joking...definitely not seriously accusing you of hating. Sorry, I had a couple too many drinks yesterday haha. I do think the USA is underrated internationally but its up to us to prove that at a big tournament. I hope Klinsmann is the right coach to make that happen. About his record, I don't think its fair to call a third place WC finish a "failure". Even when hosting I think its crazy to expect a WC win. You always need luck on your side as well as a great team.

I never said he failed at Germany. He did about hat was both expected and acceptable. They're a top nation and hosted, so you'd think top 4 as about right for them. He did at Bayern though. His failure came at Bayern, that was a very bad season for them.

I do agree that the US are underrated. You jus need some better defenders and some organisation. Going forward you are very good, in my opinion.

My bad. Just reread the other post. Thought you said failed at both not failed at one. I agree with your assessment of the team. If Klinsmann gets them playing a smart game and finds a couple defenders at least capable of playing cohesive team defense we'll be in good shape. I love Dempsey and Donovan attacking we just need to decide exactly how they can best be used tactically and let them gel in those roles.

And as German coach Löw was a big help for him. In my opinion he still have a lot to prove.

Can't wait to see us getting hammered by the Azzurri

Is it 2 from every group the qualify? I forgot how many teams Europe get in the World Cup.

Usually 15, right?

13 teams qualify from Europe. Out of 53 who will compete. There will be playoffs as well to determine the last 4, who will go along the 9 group winners. One thing's for sure, it's not going to be easy. And the best way to move forward would be to win the group (A-I). Otherwise, it's going to be two-legged playoffs with the winner take all.

Wait a minute...does that mean the number of European teams changed? Because in 1998 there were 15 teams, then in 2002 also. Gee, I really do sometimes live in the past.

But the change made so that the winner has to play qualifications is really ridiculous. Absurd.

True. If anything, the winner should be in the first group along with the host nation, and the first match should be between them. If it was to be, the first match of 2014 World Cup would have been: Brazil vs Spain. It doesn't get much bigger than this. So yeah, agreed, stupid rule change.

So one of the group runners-up won't even get in the playoffs? I don't like that.


Yeah the winner shouldn't have to qualify. They should have the right to defend their title.

Well that's the way it is, I am afraid. They don't say Europe is the toughest place to qualify from, for nothing. Things get a bit easier when the World Cup is in Europe itself, as they get an extra slot, but still.

wasnt one of the play offs for last world cup the one where henry scored a goal by handling the ball or something

seeing they've got spain in their group theyll probably face another play off.

Exactly, Ari. The land of U2 was robbed that time. But it all checked out in the end, in my opinion. France provided genuine entertainment last time around. They were so bad, it was good. I mean, sketchy performance is one thing, in-fighting and internal feuds are totally another.

more of that this time around would be nice

Agreed. Their shenanigans of 2002 made up for the Brazil loss in the final of 98 for me. And likewise for the 2006 defeat, last year's show. Part of me believes they will be a bit sober next time around. But I wouldn't mind more of that, not at all. It was a special feeling reading French media during last year's world cup. Pure mindless entertainment.

Made up? France in 98' was the deserved winner, Brazil didn't stand a chance in that final. And rightfully France won because they were the best team in the World from about 1998-2002. I didn't like Domenech, but now that Blanc took over, I really have nothing against them.

The keywords being "for me". Personally, I've never been sold on them. Always felt they were a team that rode on the performances of one or two individuals that came along, while the rest of the team lacked not only chemistry, but teamwork and etiquette. I can name at least a dozen more sides that I rate above them - from today to years gone by.

Besides, I always felt being the home team, France got favors from east through west in 1998. Just like South Korea got a paved road by FIFA in the 2002 edition. Italy being on the receiving ends of both. Paolo's last match is there for all to see, and so is the 1998 quarterfinal penalty shootout.

At least that's how I remember it seeing it live, haven't watched that match again.

You seem angry that I'm happy with the group. Croatia I know a bit about, given one of your star strikers, Jelavic, is a Rangers player - he'll be a real threat, but I'd have bitten your arm off for Croatia over a Spain, Netherlands or Brazil.

And the fact you say it's an even group is kinda why I'm saying we have a real chance - if it was 3 teams leaps and bounds better than us plus top seeds from the lower 2 pots then, yes, it would be really tough.

But it's fairly favourable and we have a real chance of qualifying.

I can see you and I having some fruity conversations during the qualifying rounds...

Oh, we will, that's sure...

Now, I was angry, but not at you. Only recently I watched the rerun of a Croatia-Yugoslavia clash from 1999/2000 road to Euro campaign and though gee, that clash didn't happen for a long time...and that's good. Now seeing us drawn with Serbia and Macedonia, plus Belgium (who's one of our favorite teams to eliminate) and your Scotland..that makes a very hard and even group. So I guess, yes, you really have a chance, I didn't thought about it that way.

As for Jelavić, I'm uncertain he'll be a starter. We still have Olić, Da Silva, Petrić, Kalinić, Madzukić and Lakić fighting for that attacking spot, beside Jelavić. Naturally it depends on who'll be Croatia's next manager for those qualifications.

A little OT, but what're peoples thoughts on the Euros being extended to 24 teams? I personally think it's a disaster. Too many bad teams will qualify and it'll just fill the tournement with even more anti-football. 24 teams will also means teams who lose more than they in will always qualify from the group stages of the tournement, stupid.

Indeed. Can't remember the last time when more then 2 teams with a strong squad that deserved to qualify failed on that task. Big no no!

This made me think, Fillipo: Do you guys have special keyboards in Croatia? The one where you have keys for adding accent to characters, like (ć). I mean, I always like to type the name in full, naturally we have one player who has has a special character in his name (Ibrahimović).

For the sake of accuracy I have a text file where I have all these words written, and I just copy and paste. I was intrigued what you guys did? Now, this is how you do off-topic, Kurt. Learned from the Captain, himself, LOL.


Yeah, pretty much. Undoubtedly one of the most stupid rule change I have seen in recent times in games. What's stopping UEFA from doing 32 teams, then. At least it will be one big tournament, with most of the main teams in. 16 was more than enough, and at least qualification then had some prestige.

Yep, we have special keys that give us the diacritic signs like č, ć, š or ž and đ. When it comes to German "Umlauts" i simply use alt gr + the ' key and then the wished letter - ä, ö or ü, and naturally ß. For other languages I'm not so fond/knowledgeable I copy-paste, like you

Charming. Nice to know that. It is always nice to take a bit of a care to say (or type) the correct name, whether it is of a person or a place. The way it's intended to be. I have a regular keyboard, so it's either copy-paste, or in case of a real fancy name I have to use the Character Map program in Windows.

He's been absolutely terrific for Rangers so far, but I guess it's a compliment to Croatia that you have 7 or 8 top strikers vying for one or two slots.

Scotland have Miller, Goodwillie, Naismith, McFadden, Boyd - pretty good but not quite Ibrahimovic.

Sweet
we can challenge for first but will most likely end up second to the swiss.

England game is off due to the Riots in the country, one positive to come from all this I guess. A lot of Carling Cup games have been cancelled all over the place too.

Depending on how long this goes on for I wouldn't be surprised to see it affect the opening weekend of the Premiership, in particular the London based clubs.

Stupid time to have a friendly anyway. All pre-season to have it and they decide it would be best 3 days before the start of the season.

Villa playing in London opening weekend so it better not affect us!

I think sooner or later Abate should be called up for the national team. He's been consistently solid ever since last season.