Is This The Greatest Brazil Defence Ever?

Brazil are the greatest football playing nation on the planet, there are very few who would argue that. They have five World Cups and Eight Copa Americas to their name and the very rarely disappoint their country. Whereas many European nations go through phases of good squads, Brazil have a never ending product line of top quality players and the flair and style of the Brazil side often makes people want to see them above any other team on the planet. But when you think about great Brazillian players, you’d probably come up with a load of players who love to attack: Pele, Ronaldo, Romario, Ronaldinho, Zico and Rivaldo etc. With the exception of Cafu and Roberto Carlos (who in their own right were more attacking minded than defensive – although Cafu could do it all!) you would struggle to convince people that Brazil have had a lot of world class defenders in the past. In 2002, they managed to win the World Cup with Dida in nets and Roque Junior at centre back and although the latter was voted in the World Cup XI, if you have seen both of these players in their club career, you wouldn’t exactly consider them amazing.

Enter Dunga. A man that has caused a stir in his home nation by changing the Brazil way and moulded the national side in his own model. Instead of building a side from front to back, Dunga has reversed this and turned Brazil into a much more rigid outfit that almost splits the team into stern attacking and defensive orders. Dunga hasn’t exactly revolutionised the entire Brazil mentality, but instead he has almost evolved it and has five players that allow him to make his system work like a charm:

Julio Cesar:

The best quality a goalkeeper can have is his organisational skills. How a keeper communicates and orders the defenders in front of him is very important and this is something Cesar does brilliantly as he knows how to talk to the players in front of him in order to protect his goal. This is the reason many have considered Buffon one of the greatest for the past decade as he knows how to organise the people in front of him, and when called into action he is equally adept to making saves. Barcelona V Inter last season at the Nou Camp is a prime example of Cesar’s organisation as he was constantly talking to those in front of him and sending orders out that kept Barca out over and over again. By the time he retires, he could be known as the greatest Brazil keeper of all time.

Lucio and Juan:

About five or so years ago, you wouldn’t have considered these two to be world class defenders. But experience has made both of these players into outstanding and many are even calling Lucio the best defender in the world at the moment. The experience they have both gained in a top league like Serie A has aided them greatly and like a fine wine, they are getting better with age. Lucio himself is a unique character, one look at him in England and people often start describing him as a ‘beast’ and we all know how passionate he can become about the game (one way to put it). Juan on the other hand has had his injury problems, but he is reliable and can often just make himself into a brick wall that no one can get around. These two are both athletic as well and very good on the ball, I suppose the reason I believe that these two are part of the greatest Brazil defence is the fact that they are both ball playing defenders that are as passionate about defending as the likes of Pele and Zico were about attacking. Also looking on the bench, there is a 25 year old Thiago Silva that plays for A.C Milan (are you seeing a theme here). I’m not one of these people who falls into the stereotype that Italian football is ” boring defensive football” as often these claims are made by people that rarely watch it, but Italian’s do know how to defend and it is part of their culture. Both have moved from German football and it has really sharpened their skills and often come up against some of the top attacking players in the world while at Serie A.

Felipe Melo and Gilberto Silva:

One has had a poor season in Italy which saw him sent off numerous times and the other plays in the Greek top division. With all due respect to Greek league, you’d often think your two amazing defensive midfielders would be playing for the likes of Real Madrid or Chelsea, but just because Gilberto doesn’t play at the very top of the mountain, it doesn’t mean he is any less of a player. Felipe Melo on the other hand has had a difficult first season in Italy that many foreign players often experience due to the unique football culture in that country; even Zidane had a struggle at first! These two players allow the likes of Kaka, Robinho, Fabiano and Elano (or Alves now I suppose) in front of them stay up the top end of the pitch and give them the confidence that they can perform the job of sweeping up when the opposition try to catch Brazil on the break. They also allow Maicon and Bastos to break forward from full back in true Brazil style and their main role is just filling in the gaps that attackers can leave when they attempt to go forward. Melo is a no nonsense player and he isn’t afraid to kick you into next week if he needs to and Silva has an elegance that tells you he is fully aware of his surroundings and knows what his role is.

Obviously I am only 21, so I didn’t really experience past generations of Brazil squads, but in my opinion (although i’d love to add Cafu to this team), this is the best Brazil defence I have ever seen. They just look solid at the back and these five players mean that they don’t need to rely on their attacking players too heavily. Now Brazil are about to play Holland and I hope I’m not going to eat my words…