More successes (19942002)
1994 World Cup
Brazil went 24 years without winning a World Cup or even participating in a final. Their struggles ended at the 1994 tournament in the United States, where a solid, if unspectacular side headed by the likes of Romário, Bebeto, Dunga, Taffarel, and Jorginho won the World Cup for a then-record 4th time. Highlights of their campaign included a 10 victory over the hosts in the round of 16, a sensational 32 win over the Dutch in the quarter-finals (often cited as the game of the tournament) and a 10 win over the Swedes in the semis. This set up a classic confrontation, Brazil vs. Italy, in the final. After a dour and unexciting 00 draw, penalty kicks loomed, and when Roberto Baggio lifted his spot kick over the crossbar, Brazil were champions once again. A new era of dominance had begun.
1998 World Cup
Brazil finished runner-up in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. After a very respectable campaign during which they beat Netherlands on penalties in the semi-final following a 11 draw with goals from Ronaldo and Patrick Kluivert, the team lost to hosts France 30 in a problematic final game. Brazilian marking at defensive set pieces was poor, and Zinédine Zidane was able to score two headed goals from France's corner kicks. Also, Brazilian star Ronaldo suffered an epileptic seizure a few hours before the match. Many criticized the decision to reinstate Ronaldo into the starting lineup as he put on a poor performance.
2002 World Cup
Fuelled by the scintillating play of the "Three R's" (Ronaldo, Rivaldo, and Ronaldinho), Brazil won its fifth championship at the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in South Korea and Japan. When the groups were drawn, Brazil seemed to have been lucky; Their adversaries would be Turkey, China and Costa Rica. At the end, it turned out that Turkey finished the tournament in third place. Brazil went on beating all three opponents, scoring 11 goals and conceding only three, and topping the group.
In Brazil's opening game against Turkey, Rivaldo fell to the ground clutching his face after Turkey's Hakan Ünsal had kicked the ball at his legs. Hakan Ünsal, who had already been booked, was sent off while Rivaldo jumped to his feet and continued playing. Rivaldo escaped suspension but was fined £5,180 for play-acting, he became the first player to be punished in FIFA's krackdown on "simulation" and "diving".
Next they defeated Belgium 20, in the round-of-16. Against England in the quarter finals, Brazil won 21. Ronaldinho scored the winner with a remarkable lofted free kick and also assisted teammate Rivaldo for their first goal, but was sent off for stamping on the right ankle of England's Danny Mills. The semifinal was against Turkey, which Brazil had faced in their group. Again, this match was difficult, as Brazil won 10 with a goal by Ronaldo. Rivaldo had scored one goal each in all five game up to this one but did not manage to hit the target in the sixth. He had seemed all set to repeat Jairzinho´s great achievement in 1970 when he scored in every game of the World Cup.
The final was between two of the most successful teams in the competition's history: Germany and Brazil. Incredibly, the teams had never played each other in the World Cup before, besides a match between Brazil and East Germany in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn had been the tournament's best keeper, but could not maintain that level of play, as Ronaldo vanquished his France '98 demons, scoring both goals in the Brazilian 20 triumph.[19]
20022006
On June 29, 2005, Brazil won the Confederations Cup for the second time with an emphatic 41 victory over arch-rivals Argentina in Frankfurt, Germany.[20] They also won another championship, the 2004 Copa América in which Brazil defeated Argentina in a penalty shootout.[21] Argentina had defeated Peru in the quarterfinals, and Colombia in the semifinals. In the 2002 World Cup, Brazil made it to the final to face the powerful German squad again. The Brazilian striker Ronaldo scored two goals in the final, leaving Germany in the dust, as the experienced Brazilian captain Cafu lifted the World Cup for Brazil a fifth time.
2006 World Cup
Brazilian's coach Parreira presented a formation nicknamed "The Magic Square", based in 4 offensive players: Ronaldo, Adriano, Kaká, and Ronaldinho.
During preparation stages the team showed up some problems. Team's greatest star Ronaldo had a bad build-up, after returning from a two months injury. He also had blisters on his feet and a fever during the training matches.
Despite winning the first 2 games against Croatia (10) and Australia (20), the "Magic Square" didn't seem to work as expected and it was hard to beat the opponents defense. In the 3rd game, the coach tried a new squad with five former reserve players, including Robinho, and Cicinho. The changes were successful, as the team put a comfortable 4-1 win against Japan.
The Brazilian squad preparing for the World Cup in Weggis, Switzerland.
During the second round, they defeated Ghana 30. However, Brazil was eliminated in the quarterfinals against France by a score of 10. France was led by a rejuvenated Zinédine Zidane and by a strong defence which kept the Brazilian strikers under check for the duration of the game. Brazil were shut out, attempting just one shot at French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez. The game was also notable for being the first time that the Brazil team had been shut out in consecutive matches against a particular team. France now has a 211 all-time record against Brazil in World Cup play.
After elimination, the team was largely criticized by the press and the fans. The media circulated images from the left wingback Roberto Carlos tying his shoes while Henry runs unmarked to score the winning goal. The sporting legend Pelé, blamed coach Parreira and Ronaldinho for the team's early elimination.
After 2006 World Cup
1994 World Cup champion Dunga was hired as Brazil's new team coach on July 24. His first match in charge was against Norway which was played in Oslo on August 16, ended in a 11 draw. His second match was held against arch rivals Argentina on September 3 in Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium in London, in which Brazil defeated Argentina by a 30 scoreline. On September 5 they defeated Wales 20 at Tottenham Hotspur's White Hart Lane ground. They later defeated Kuwait club Al-Kuwait 40, Ecuador 21 and had a 21 away win against Switzerland.
Dunga's first defeat as Brazil's coach occurred on February 6, 2007 in a friendly match against Portugal, which at that time was coached by former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. Respectively on March 24 and March 27, 2007, Brazil bounced back from their first defeat under Dunga with wins in friendly matches against Chile (40) and Ghana (10) in Sweden.
Unlike Parreira, Dunga has focused on the task of deemphasizing all players and treating them as equals. He did not just look for players in popular clubs such as Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid, etc., but looked at the whole scope of Europe, finding individual talents such as Vágner Love and Dudu Cearense who were playing for Russian club CSKA Moscow and Elano who was playing for Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk. Of the four players who was dubbed as Magic Quartet, Ronaldinho and Kaká were the only players who had a regular place in the Brazil squad. Adriano was called back in the squad for a friendly against Portugal in February 2007, which Brazil lost 02.
Copa América 2007
Brazil participated in the Copa América 2007 which was hosted by Venezuela. They were placed in Group B with Mexico, Ecuador, and Chile. Brazil surprisingly lost to Mexico 20 in their opening match, then bounced back with a comfortable 30 victory over Chile with three goals from Robinho, and won 10 against Ecuador, Robinho scoring on a penalty kick. They advanced to the quarter-finals, where they defeated Chile again 61. The semi-final was against Uruguay, after a 22 draw, Brazil won 54 on penalties. Their opponent in the final was Argentina, which were the favorites to win, having won all their matches on the way to the final. However Brazil scored early in the 4th minute when Júlio Baptista scored, and then in the 45th minute, defender Roberto Ayala scored on an own goal. Later in the second half, in the 69th minute, substitute Dani Alves scored Brazil's third goal, as the scoreline became 30. After the tournament, Robinho was awarded the Golden Boot in addition to being named the best player in the tournament.
2009 FIFA Confederations Cup
The Brazilian team won the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa. Although they started with a shaky victory over Egypt with a 43 win with a last minute penalty as Egypt is also credited as the only African team to score three goals against Brazil, they comfortably beat the USA, as well as Italy, both with a 30 scoreline. After beating South Africa in the semi-final with a late free kick, they went on to a rematch against USA in the final which they won 32, after coming in 20 down at half-time, to seal their third Confederations Cup title.[29] Kaká was named as the player of the tournament and Luís Fabiano won the top goalscorer award with five goals in five matches.
2010 FIFA World Cup, Copa America 2011
Brazil only get into quarter final 2010 World Cup and Semifinal Copa America 2011. After surprised lossed from Mexico in Olympic Gold Medal 2012 Final, Brazil now are preparing the young squad into World Cup 2014 in Brazil.
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