Dunga Reveals Official Lineup

Brazil’s disastrous campaign in the 2014 World Cup saw the Brazilian team losing against Germany with a shocking 7-1 loss and everything just fell apart for them when Netherlands came out on top and claimed the 3rd spot after winning 3-1.

The South American country was one of the favorites of lifting the World Cup trophy as the worldwide event was being hosted in a nation were football was more than a sport for them, it’s a religion for many people that live there and to witness their team lose in such a resounding manner was a huge shock.

The disappointing losses led to the national team coach, Felipe Scolari having to step down from his managerial position in the squad as he went on to resign and now Dunga has made his return in charge of the team.

Dunga is no stranger to the international stage as he has already coached the Brazilian national team. The Brazilian manager guided Brazil into the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup but after losing against Netherlands, Brazil was eliminated from the tournament. Dunga received heavy criticism for some of his tactical decisions in the team and especially after deciding to not call up Pato or Neymar for the past edition of the competition but he is now back and made his return.

Brazil has a series of friendly matches which are scheduled to be played on September with Colombia and Ecuador being the opponents of the Brazilian’s. It will be the first match of Dunga since he was elected to replace Felipe Scolari.

Goalkeepers: Jefferson (Botafogo), Rafael Cabral (Napoli)

Defenders: David Luiz (PSG), Marquinhos (PSG), Gil (Corinthians), Miranda (Atletico Madrid), Maicon (Roma), Filipe Luis (Chelsea), Alex Sandro (Porto), Danilo (Porto).

Midfielders: Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg), Elias (Corinthians), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Ramires (Chelsea), Everton Ribeiro (Cruzeiro), Ricardo Goulart (Cruzeiro), Willian (Chelsea), Oscar (Chelsea), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool).

Forwards: Neymar (FC Barcelona), Diego Tardelli (Atletico Mineiro), Hulk (Zenit St-Petersburg).

That’s the official lineup of players that Dunga announced to be featured in Brazil’s upcoming friendly matches.

Inter Milan Aim For Lamela

Italian club Inter Milan have for the first time expressing their interest in Tottenham midfielder Erik Lamela, who is widely tipped to leave White Hart Lane in the summer. The former Roma man came to the Premier league in a £ 30 million deal, but after just 17 appearances throughout the season, he is widely expected to leave the club. Lamela has been such an extraordinary flop that Tottenham are considering selling the player before his asset value decreases even further. At just 22 years of age, he still has a long time to recover his career.

Lamela also appears better suited for the Italian Serie A where he has been playing for several years. As a result, Inter Milan see this as a great opportunity to sign the player, who dominated the Serie A only 12 months ago. He would also be substantially less expensive than he was originally valued 12 months ago. Inter are expected to go on a spending spree this summer after failing to reach the Champions League once again. Even appointing Walter Mazzarri as the manager, the club failed to produce the consistent form required to finish in the top three.

Now, Mazzarri is thought to have told Inter that he would like to have Lamela in the team. “Walter Mazzarri likes Lamela but everything depends on the transfer market. Some report about our interest in [Edin] Dzeko and [Alvaro] Morata, but if their clubs don’t want to sell these players we won’t do anything. In about two weeks we hope to be able to announce a new player. Mazzarri believes in our plan and we must sit around a table to talk about his renewal. Football now is different to 15 years ago,” said Inter Milan president Thohir. Inter finished fifth in the table last season.

Scolari Would Not Have Thought Twice About Costa

Brazil national team boss Luiz Felipe Scolari has stated that he would have not thought twice about taking Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa to the World Cup. Born in Brazil, the 25-year-old striker represented the Brazilian national team into friendly matches. However, he recently turned his allegiance towards Spain after thinking that he would not have opportunities to represent the national team much. This was because Brazil not giving him much importance due to the upcoming stars like Neymar and Oscar. After having been playing in Spain for several years, he gained citizenship and started representing Spain from 2013.

Brazil have one of the strongest squads going into the 2014 World Cup but it is not the best in terms of strikers. Former Manchester city reject Jo is one of players included and this says a lot about the quality of the strikers at Scolari’s disposal. Costa’s participation in the World Cup is certainly in doubt due to the recent hamstring problem. Spain manager Vicente del Bosque is likely to turn towards Fernando Torres after seeing Costa suffer his injury in the Champions League final against Real Madrid. Dismissing suggestions that he was not ready to take Costa, Scolari stated that the 25-year-old has a lot of positive attributes that would have seen him in the Brazil squad.

“I was going to summon him for the World Cup. Was I wrong? I don’t know. He would be at the World Cup with Brazil. I talked to him twice about it. The problem is there are other interests behind it. With Diego Costa becoming a naturalised Spaniard another space [in Atletico’s squad] opened up in Europe. There’s a whole set of interests. Diego Costa would be with us. He plays as a seven, a nine, or even as an 11. People to try to run him over and go crashing. He’s strong as a bull,” said Scolari.

BIG MATCHES FOR HAMMERS

Sam Allardyce faced his 4th consecutive defeat in charge of West Ham after suffering a 1-0 defeat against West Bromwich which has escalated the pressure of the 59 years old tactician to new levels.

West Ham United is safe from the bottom relegation zone but this makes no effect towards the frustration of the fans and their patience which seems to be running out. Continue reading “BIG MATCHES FOR HAMMERS”