After Brazil’s victory against Bolivia on the last day of the South American Qualifiers, Tite’s team surpassed Marcelo Bielsa’s Argentina points record. The ‘canarinha’ finished the classification with 45 pointstwo more than the albiceleste that was first in the group for the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup. Now, as happened before, Brazil is one of the favorites for the Qatar World Cup next November.
Brazil’s passage through these South American Qualifiers has been a dream. The ‘canarinha’ has not known defeat in the 17 games played, accumulating 14 wins and 3 draws. Furthermore, he has achieved greatest number of victories of a country in the same edition in tournament history. Those numbers could have increased if the Clásico de las Américas had taken place after its cancellation.
Tite’s face lift
Brazil smiles again with a team full of magic. Tite’s strength has been bringing young talent together with a group of established players, such as Neymar or Daniel Alves. The country of samba, dribbling and nice game It has always been characterized as one of the great exporters of talent to Europe. However, starting in 2014, after the traumatic experience of the 2014 World Cup, the team lost its identity.
Brazil breaks Bielsa’s record
Tite’s tactics have been changing over time. From the 1-4-3-3 with which he won the 2016 Copa América, he evolved to the current 1-4-2-3-1. If before they played with a single defensive pivot, now with the great variants that have been emerging, Brazil has found in Bruno Guimaraes or Fabinho the ideal companion for Casemiro. The team always tries to play from behind, making the pivots go down to the defense line to get the ball. The most common is to see the wingers very open and close to the band to give depth to the game. When the opponent closes behind, the midfielders can come out with long balls to run them in the band, achieving 1v1 or to set up the center to the area.
It is unusual to see a center forward in Tite’s tactics (where Richarlison closes the stall), the bands have taken a preferential place where the new generations knock on the door of absolute. players like Gabriel Martinelli, Vinicius Junior, Raphinha or Antonand they have given a leap in quality to an already talented team.
The reflection of the Argentina of Bielsa
Tite took over as coach in 2016, taking over from Dunga after the tough elimination in the first round of the Copa América Centenario. Since then, Brazil have not lost a game in their last 34 matches in the Qualifiers, achieving 26 wins and 8 draws. His last loss in Qualifying was in October 2015, when he lost 2-0 against Chile as a visitor.
Brazil breaks Bielsa’s record
The last South American team to have similar numbers was Marcelo Bielsa’s Argentina in 2002. The albiceleste in the South American Qualifiers won 13 games, tied 4 and lost one, reaching 42 points. For the World Cup in Korea/Japan, the ‘crazy’ team was the clear favorite to win the cupbut was eliminated in the group stage by finishing in third position.
