Seven changes to Brazil’s starting XI while Socceroos make none
The starting line-ups are in … and the Socceroos are unchanged, which is a bit of a surprise. I was sure that Tony Popovic would look at rotating a few players, but I guess he thought that Friday night’s team worked well and wants to give them another run together to see if they can repeat the dosage against Brazil.
Remember, after tonight, they have only two more games (in November) until the Asian Cup starts in January, so there really isn’t much time for experimentation. This is close to Australia’s strongest possible XI; the sidelined Jordan Bos, Cristian Volpato and Mohamed Toure all probably would have been in the mix to start, but they’re injured.
And as for Brazil? A whopping seven changes. It’s easier to tell you who’s kept their spots: Raphinha, who wears the captain’s armband, Vinicius jnr, Bruno Guimaraes and Danilo. So no Endrick or Estevao.
Their goalscorer in Townsville, Rayan – the forward from AFC Bournemouth whose last-gasp header saved the Selecao from an almighty embarrassment – has been elevated into the starting line-up. Good for him. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Otavio and midfielder Gabriel Bontempo have been named for their international debuts. Where else would you want to do that than Suncorp Stadium?
Ancelotti tells Brazilian media how much their criticism matters to him: “Zero.”
As we reported yesterday, Brazil scrapped the planned open training session they were supposed to hold at Suncorp Stadium, much to the disappointment of those who have travelled from interstate for this match – most of whom will be returning home on Wednesday, which means they’ll miss the rescheduled public appearance on Thursday morning.
The plans changed at Ancelotti’s behest, because of the immense pressure the team is feeling after Friday night’s 1-1 draw in Townsville. Nor did Brazil do a formal pre-match press conference.
Instead, at a function on Monday night in Brisbane’s West End, Ancelotti was part of a panel discussion with Socceroos boss Tony Popovic, and answered some questions from the Brazilian media, who have been smashing him.
It got pretty willing, as he was at pains to explain the “step by step” process that must be undertaken to rebuild their national team, which has only once progressed past the quarter-finals of a World Cup since the last time they won it in 2002 – and that was in 2014, when they hosted the tournament, and suffered an infamous 7-1 semi-final defeat to Germany, which plunged the entire nation into crisis.
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Welcome
Good evening and welcome back to game two of the Queensland football series (if anyone is actually calling it that) between Australia and Brazil.
We’ve gained a couple of points in latitude ahead of the match at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium tonight. In case you didn’t watch the first game in Townsville, Australia just missed out on a historic win after a memorable free kick from Nestory Irankunda put them in the lead. A goal in the dying seconds of the game from Brazil resulted in a 1-1 draw, although the South Americans lost a FIFA world rank because of it, moving from fifth to sixth. Ouch.
My name is Frances Howe, and I’ll be manning this live blog while my colleague, Vince Rugari, sends updates from Suncorp. Kick-off is at 8 pm. Now for the bad news: there’s no free stream of this match, it’s Paramount+ only.
Up soon: team news.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
