Wednesday (17) is decision day, in the Intercontinental Cup, between Flamengo and PSG, and in the Copa do Brasil, with the first match between Corinthians and Vasco.
I have more hope than I had in the last Club World Cup that a Brazilian team will beat a big team from Europe in the final game. The positive expectation must be because Botafogo beat PSG in the recent Club Cup and Flamengo beat Chelsea in the group stage, who would later become world champions.
If Flamengo is champion, it will not mean that it is superior to the French team. Sometimes, the big teams in Europe lose in the national championships to medium or small teams, which are inferior to Flamengo. As the old saying goes, football is played.
The two teams are different in their midfield formation. PSG has a trio, with Vitinha centralized and further back, with a midfielder on each side who scores, builds and advances. At Flamengo, midfielders Jorginho and Pulgar play almost on a line. Arrascaeta is increasingly more of an attacking midfielder who plays close to the goal than a midfielder.
Flamengo needs to mark PSG’s ball with Vitinha. He, with his intense mobility and good passes, is the link between defense and attack, a type of midfielder that is increasingly valued in Europe. Brazil is still very dependent on the formation with two midfielders and a centralized attacking midfielder, who does not participate in marking. All tactical structures can be efficient as long as they are well executed and have great players.
Moroccan right-back Hakimi, the best in the world in this position, will be missed. Left-back Nuno Mendes is also excellent when he advances and will need to be marked. Filipe Luís has several options from midfield to forward and will certainly make good choices.
In the Copa do Brasil, Corinthians and Vasco lost to Cruzeiro and Fluminense in the second match of the semifinals and qualified for the final on penalties. They must play two balanced matches. Both teams have great attacking players, Memphis, Garro and Yuri Alberto for Corinthians, Coutinho, Rayan and Gómez for Vasco.
Both teams, as is common today in Brazil and around the world, are strong at set pieces. There are assistants, specialists in these plays. To work well, it is necessary to have a great crosser and efficient headers. I think teams should always have a player in front of the opponent to disrupt his run before he takes the momentum to head.
Corinthians, even without paying their huge debts, could be the champion of the Copa do Brasil and thus guarantee a place in the Libertadores. Just as governments urgently need to punish offenders who do not pay their taxes, the CBF must speed up and put into practice the promised rules against clubs that do not pay what they owe.
In Brazil and around the world, there are more and more violent, inhumane, corrupt, unethical and racially and religiously intolerant people. Terrible to see a terrorist shoot and kill so many Jews who were socializing on a beach in Australia. If it weren’t for a Muslim citizen, who, with courage and solidarity, attacked the shooter and took his weapon, the death toll would be much higher. There is still hope in human beings.
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