Brazil’s national team coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, is not hiding his optimism about his team’s chance to win the World Cup title at home this summer.
The coach has been saying it loud and clear that it will be Brazil’s turn to lift the glittering trophy at the Maracana Stadium in a few months.
Scolari says everything is going Brazil’s way heading into the tournament and there is no reason not to think that the hosts can be successful.
The former Portugal boss insists his team is ready and believes that playing at home with the support of its fanatical fans will be Brazil’s biggest weapon during the World Cup that starts in June.
The 65-year-old noted that playing at home is a major advantage for the Selecao, arguing that they will have the benefit of a “12th player”
“We are playing at home, we have the fans on our side and a team which is competitive and has a lot of quality,” Scolari said. “We have everything that allows us to be the best team. That’s why I fully trust that we can make it to the final and be the champions.”
Scolari made his comments during a FIFA-run workshop with representatives of the 32 teams that will play in the World Cup. More than 20 coaches attended the event in the southern city of Florianopolis to discuss the organizational aspects of the upcoming tournament.
Big Phil, as Scolari is fondly called, added that what happened during the Confederations Cup last year gave a good indication of what Brazil has going its way ahead of the Mundial.
Fans had been jeering Brazil before the World Cup warm-up tournament but they were fully behind the squad once the tournament began. In addition, Brazil played extremely well on the field and won the title with five straight victories, including a commanding 3-0 result against defending World Cup champions Spain in the final at the same stadium that will host the World Cup final in July.
The coach said he was not nearly as optimistic before the 2002 tournament, which Brazil eventually won despite arriving with a squad that few believed could be successful. Scolari was also coach of Brazil at that time.
“We didn’t have a squad ready at the time, so I said that if we finished among the final four teams it would have had to be considered a good result,” Scolari said.
“Now I’m playing in Brazil, in front of my people, I have the 12th player (fans) on my side. If I can’t say that we are good, that we have a lot of quality and that we have good players, then there’s nothing I should be doing here.”
He rejected the notion that hosting the World Cup could prove detrimental to the country’s hopes of lifting the trophy this summer.
The one time coach of Chelsea, who oversaw the Selecao’s triumph in South Korea and Japan in 2002, thinks that home support can only aid the nation’s bid to win the tournament for a sixth time.
“It helps us win. Fans, they help us win. Fans are important.
“I have said – even though some journalists don’t agree – that I’m not worried about this. We have a 12th player.
“We are playing at home, something that makes the difference. We have a squad that is competitive and of a high quality.
“And having this together with the fans means we can always be the best. Because of this, I’m completely confident that we can get to the final and become champions.”
However, Scolari added that there are several nations that should be considered genuine contenders to win the World Cup as well.
He said: “I don’t think that we’re going to have three favourites for the title. Today, there are at least eight squads that can fight for the title. Now, one of those favourites is us. Everyone knows it.
“And players, we have really good players [coming to the tournament] that we already know. Like Cristiano [Ronaldo], like [Lionel] Messi, Neymar and others.
“There are a few young players that come here, like a few players from Belgium that are on the global market, like big players that could surprise us. Colombia have a few players that could also be a surprise.”