Brazil 2002

A series of the greatest football teams is just incomplete without the Brazil team
of 2002 that won the world cup quite convincingly. Having watched the world cup
as a kid, I was enthralled by Brazil's joga bonito, their own brand of beautiful
football. The Brazil team of 2002 was the last Brazil to really impress at the world
cup stage. Their teams after 2002, even with an ensemble squad, have struggled
as a result of tactical indiscipline and inflated egos.
Just an year or so before the world cup, the team was in shambles during the
qualification campaign. It wasn't until Luis Felipe Scolari took over, that any
semblance of stability was restored. Qualification was secured by almost
crawling to the finish line. Brazil finished second behind Argentina in qualifying,
which in hindsight proved to be quit beneficial as Brazil were drawn in a group
involving Turkey, China and Costa Rica, all of whom they beat comfortably. It
wasn't until Brazil faced England in the quarters that a real challenge arrived.
Line up and tactics:
The moment we think of Brazil, we think of attacking flair, of dribbles, flicks,
shmmies and pace and goals. These thoughts have also given rise to a false
notion that Brazilian teams in the past crammed in as many attackers as possible
and won on the pure talents of those attackers. But all their world cup winning
sides, including the 2002 squad, set up oppositely to this notion. Scolari went
about setting up a strong defensive base as foundation to allow the attackers to
flourish without defensive responsibilities.
Scolari set up Brazil in a 3-4-2-1 shape with wingbacks. Centre backs have never
been Brazil's biggest strength and it was the same with the 2002 squad. This was
perhaps the reason that prompted Scolari to instill a 3 man defence. This not
only allowed Scolari to achieve defensive solidarity but also gave freedom to
those two excellent fullbacks- Roberto Carlos and Cafu to bomb forward and
express themselves in attack.
Totally devoid of defensive duties, the attacking trio of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and
Rivaldo really shone, throughout the world cup. They gelled excellently and
produced some moments of pure magic. Rivaldo was the furthest forward in
midfield, often drifting to positions in between the lines. The magical Ronaldinho
was the link between defence and midfield, often dropping deepest to collect the
ball. Gaucho's star was still rising at that time, but he played a major role in the
world cup win. Who can forget his match winning performance against England,
setting up Brazil's first goal with a mazy run, and scoring the second via a free
kick far away from the goal. And what can I say about El fenomeno Ronaldo,
perhaps the best striker of the modern era. He was in great form during the 2002
world cup and went on to score 8 goals during the campaign and played a pivotal
role in the world cup win. Cafu and Roberto Carlos also had great world cups,
marauding up and down the flanks. With the trio of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and
Rivaldo playing quite centrally, it was upto the wingbacks to stretch the play and
disrupt the horizontally compact defences back in the day.

Conclusion:
Brazil's capitulation against Germany in the 2014 world cup was, in many ways
the completion of a cycle. A cycle which was set in motion after Brazil defeated
Germany in the 2002 World cup final. After 2002, while Brazil slowly lost their
footballing identity of joga bonito, Germany went about acquiring their own
identity. It took 12 years of gradually laying foundations from the very lower
rungs of football in Germany and culminated in the 2014 World cup win.
It's about time Brazil do the same and make a real effort to rediscover their
identity that set them apart from all other footballing nations and gave them so
much success in football. Joga bonito needs to e brought back. After all, every
football fan would love to watch the Brazil team playing beautiful football again!