The Confederations Cup, featuring the champions of all six continents, the World Cup hosts and World Cup holders, starts on Wednesday 15th June. Frankfurt’s Waldstadion hosts the final.
The participating nations are split into two groups, with each team playing one another once, a total of three games each.
The winners and runners up and each group go through to the semi-finals, with the winners of Group A playing the runners up in Group B and vice versa. The losing semi-finalists face each other in a play-off to determine the third and fourth placed teams.
The Seleção coach is treating the FIFA Confederations Cup extremely seriously, “Whenever a Brazilian team enters a tournament, they want to reach the final,” he said. That will not be a formality though, as Parreira was quick to point out: “Firstly, we have to get there, and if we play against Germany or Argentina, that would be fantastic.”
Parreira’s plans are clearly reflected by the team that Parreira has picked which includes most of Brazil’s stars including Ronaldinho, Adriano, Kaka and Robinho.
Notable absence’s include Roberto Carlos and Cafu – rested by Parreria after a long European season – and Ronaldo. Ronaldo’s exclusion is part punishment part rest.
‘In the past I’ve been criticised for keeping him in the team,’ said Parreira, who stood by Ronaldo earlier this year when the player’s form dipped.
‘Now, I’m being criticised for leaving him out. ‘I’m not afraid of regretting this. Nobody goes forward in life without taking decisions’. ‘But if the player isn’t fully focused, it’s better to let him have a rest and come back in shape for the next season.’
The tournament will also give Parreira a opportunity to finalize his team for the World Cup finals next year. Several positions in the team are still to be decided with 2002 WC captain Cafu’s position in doubt. Parreira will be watching this position carefully to assess potential replacements.
Brazil’s first game is against European Champions Greece on Thursday.
Samba foot will be providing full tournament coverage including all the latest news from the Brazilian camp.
