In Vienna yesterday afternoon, Brazil completed preparations for the World Cup with a resounding 3-0 victory over a physical Austria and goals from its leading attacking trident in Gabriel Jesus, Neymar and Philippe Coutinho. Shortly after, the team flew to Sochi, its base for the tournament, as those back in their homeland reacted to a win which impressed and boosted expectations of winning an unprecedented sixth world title.
In his blog on UOL Esporte, respected journalist Paulo Vinicius Coelho, known as PVC, noted how Brazil had “transformed a difficult game into an easy [one]” by beating an Austria side that had won its last seven fixtures. Before noting that Brazil had beaten strong opposition in Austria and Croatia, “a candidate to advance to the quarter-finals for the second time in its history”, over the last two Sundays, PVC concluded that the Seleção “arrives at the World Cup strong” and that “to win the title is a thing to discuss in the next four weeks”.
For globoesporte, reporting from Vienna, Alexandre Lozetti noted an improvement in Brazil playing football “Noticeably better than a week ago” with a brand of it that “left no doubts” that Coutinho, Willian, Neymar and Gabriel Jesus will lead the attack in their tournament opener on the 17th against Switzerland. In particular, Coutinho was singled out for praise as a “key piece” of Tite’s team who “each time” appears “more intimate with his new position” that has been created for him with a view to the coach finding a way to accommodate both the Barcelona midfielder and the in-form, ever-reliable Willian of Chelsea.
On Goal.com Brasil, Raísa Simplicio also noted Coutinho’s importance in branding him the “ritmista” of the national team – a samba term given to one who dictates the rhythm of the beat and a specialist in percussion instruments – who “shone like a maestro” and is prepared for his role at the World Cup.
Among fans, similar levels of optimism were encountered. Back with globoesporte, research carried out by the outlet found that from over a thousand Brazilians that were surveyed, Tite received an 8.8 mark out of 10 for Brazil’s pre-friendly World Cups while Neymar received 8.1 to match the 8.2 given for his off-the-bench cameo against Croatia. Of those interviewed, 32% found Neymar to be the best player on the pitch followed by Coutinho with 23% and Gabriel Jesus on 20%.
Across social media, talk of the coveted ‘hexa (or #Heaxabilidade, #Hexaiscoming – take your pick) i.e. the aforementioned, coveted sixth world title, went into overdrive with a public who although long deflated due to political and social unrest that has dogged the country since 2014, seem to be showing an increased confidence in their national side which could provide them with a welcomed distraction from the day-to-day struggles encountered in Latin America’s largest nation.
On Sunday, those in a bitterly divided land may put their differences to one side and finally unite in order to get behind a team reimagined under Tite and with a genuine chance of going all the way in Russia.
