Monthly Archives: August 2013

The Brazilian football team will face Switzerland in a friendly game at St. Jakob-Park on Wednesday. It will be Brazil’s first match after their Confederations Cup glory.

The Brazilian team has performed fantastically well this year under the guidance of Luiz Felipe Scolari. They have been consistent and are currently on a winning streak of 11 games. They have certainly emerged out as strong contenders for the 2014 World Cup title.

Talking to the reporters ahead of the match against Switzerland, the Fluminense striker Fred said that the atmosphere in the Brazilian camp is great at the moment.
Fred said, “The boys are very confident. We have had a great year so far and we want to keep winning.”

“After winning the Confederations Cup, we are getting more respect from the opposition. The teams desperately want to defeat us now.”

When asked about Scolari’s contribution in team’s success in recent times, Fred said, “He is a great coach. He came and changed our mindset. The team is extremely comfortable under him.”

“It’s a wonderful phase for Brazilian football. The team is on the right track. However, there is still a long way to go and we need to maintain the consistency.”

Switzerland’s record against Brazil is terrible. They have managed to win only one out of the 10 games that they have played against Brazil so far. That win had come 24 years back in 1989.

However, the manager of the Switzerland team, Ottmar Hitzfeld, has said that his players should back themselves and should try to give Brazil a tough fight.”
Hitzfeld said, “They are a very strong side and competing against them will not be easy.”
“We will have to play aggressively. We can’t let them gain the momentum.”

Tottenham Hotspur had made a bid to bring Brazil’s new rising star Bernard to White Hart Lane this summer, it has been revealed.

According to Alexandre Kalil, the president of the Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro, Spurs were in the mix to sign a player who has already been tipped to be one of the stars to watch out for in next summer’s FIFA World Cup at home while fellow North London rivals Arsenal were weighing up a move for the player.

It has now, however, been revealed that the player, who led the Brazilian club to their first ever triumph in the Copa Libertadores could be on his way to Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk after the Ukrainian club had a bid accepted for the player, believed to be worth over € 20 million.

The Gunners, however, failed to follow up their interest on one of the finds of the FIFA Confederations Cup and the North London club remains the only English side to have made a formal bid for the player. Speaking on an interview at a radio show, Kalil stated that Spurs had indeed made a bid worth around € 18 million or £ 15.7 million, but they also withdrew that bid.

The club president also stated that they wouldn’t push Bernard to move if he didn’t want to move, amidst speculation that the club is forcing the player to move to Shakhtar Donetsk after his father reportedly claimed that he doesn’t want the move so soon for his son and the club is pushing them to accept the offer.

And although Spurs’ bid fell well short of the player’s valuation by his club, it is being believed he will have to move with Shakhtar Donetsk and Portuguese giants Porto now seen as the front runners for his signature.