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Any faint optimism that the 2010 tournament will be the first properly electrifying World Cup for more than a quarter century dwindled on Saturday in Doha. That this had nothing whatever to do with a beta- minus effort from England 'B' goes without saying.
With nine of those fielded by Fabio Capello at best second choices, this ersatz England were so irrelevant that you'd have more luck penetrating an off-the-cuff John Prescott speech on quantum gravity than digging out any omens for South Africa from this bottomless pit of futility.
No, this game was simply about Brazil, which is exactly as it should be.
No one who loves this sport can watch those golden shirts without feeling hopeful that the full glory of Brazilian football might be resurrected.
We know their history at least as well as our own, if not rather better. But the truth, alas, is that Brazil haven't really been Brazil for a long while indeed.
The most exquisite football I've ever witnessed came from the side of Socrates, Zico, Falcao and Eder, who made the 1982 tournament the last great World Cup before defeating themselves by treating competent defence as something far beneath their creative virtuosity.
Horrified by that failure and another reverse with an ageing side in 1986, Brazil were never the same again. By 1994, when they won a fourth World Cup in dismal style, they had replaced the samba with a crushing Euro disco beat. Romance was sacrificed to realpolitik and for all the grandiose talents produced since - Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Romario and so on - the purism has never returned.
Since Dunga, their captain in 1994 and most negative midfielder ever, is now their coach, it came as no surprise to find them playing an Italianate game against Don Fabio's spares.
But it was still a disappointment to receive advance warning that they intend to win in South Africa with power, speed and strength, and without much guile, artistry or genius. On Saturday, Brazil failed to produce anything to make you yelp in joyous disbelief. How Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon and the Coles Ashley and Joe would have fared against them, we can only speculate.
My guess is that full-strength England would have coped well and might even have won. When John Terry spoke afterwards of having seen nothing to scare him, this was not an absentee captain's bravado but the plain truth.
What Terry (left) saw from his colleagues wasn't frightening either. It was utterly predictable. Everyone knows that Capello's understudies lack class and that any remote prospect of reaching the final rests on an un-English run of luck with the fitness of the stars. Matthew Upson in central defence, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Jermaine Jenas in midfield and Darren Bent up front confirmed themselves the international second and third raters they are with poor displays.
In goal, Ben Foster drifted bemusedly off his line to allow Nilmar the most facile of headed winners, while at right-back Wes Brown was exposed by far more than the sloppy headed back pass that led to Luis Fabiano's monstrously scooped penalty.
As for Wayne Rooney, after a bright half-hour he descended into peevish frustration as the pressure of makeshift captaincy led him to try too hard.
Gareth Barry, the only other likely World Cup starter, passed poorly while James Milner and Joleon Lescott looked the least inadequate of the reserves. Yet what point to writing about this England 'B' side can there be?
That Brazil at nearly full strength lacked the wit to unleash a torrent of goals was the defining aspect of a game that will have been enjoyed more in Madrid and Barcelona than London or Sao Paulo. Spain are the only country with any potential for historic greatness and if coach Luis Aragones bothers to watch the Doha tape it will be in less the absence of fear than the presence of a very warm feeling indeed.
It is 27 years since John Motson dredged up his Wildean observation about Socrates summing up the philosophy of Brazilian football. That philosophy changed long ago, once they digested the brutal lesson that cavalier attack, however divinely inventive, is not a winning formula.
This powerful, physical side may yet see Lucio, whose post-rattling drive provided the game's best moment, replicate his coach by raising the trophy next summer. But it won't be much like watching Brazil, or at least the Brazil of cherished memory, and like so many of its recent predecessors the 2010 World Cup will be the duller and less scintillating for that.
Reader views (8)
Richard, London UK. I read your comments with a bit of under-achievers point of view. I think this stats will help you a bitHow could England win the world cup in the modern era? All top teams in World Football have won major trophies in the last 10-20years. 43years is too much for a nation like England from the Juvenile to senior levels.
World Top 7 Teams(FIFA COMPETITIONS FROM U-17-SENIOR LEVELS)
ARGENTINA 25
BRAZIL 23
URUGUAY 18
GERMANY 8
GHANA 7
FRANCE 7
ITALY, EGYPT AND NIGERIA ARE IN THE FRAME. FIFA RANKING? HOW BOGUS!
HOW MANY LEFT-BACKS WERE PLAYING FOR ENGLAND? OH COME ON!!
- Dennis,, London,UK
I found it hard to agree with anything written in this article to be honest. Yes, England fielded an under-strength team and Brazil (who were also missing several 1st team players) didn't manage to destroy them in the way that maybe a Brazilian team of the 1970s would have. However, don't forget that it was only a friendly and Brazil, as well as winning the game, managed to limit England to only half chances, hit the post and missed a penalty. It could've been a completely different story.
You say that Brazil have never been the same since 1982, when Italy won the World Cup and Brazil didn't reach the Semi-finals. Since then Brazil have won it twice and been losing finalists once. With the likes of Ronaldo, Romario, Kaka, Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldinho and Dunga (the latter of which a necessarily tidy defensive midfielder in a team of attacking flair, not 'Brazil's most negative midfielder ever'), it is wrong to say that Brazil have suffered a demise. The game of football has changed since the 70s, and rather than saying Dunga has made Brazilian football into an 'Italianate' style, I would suggest that through achieving winning football and World no. 1 status, his time, both as Brazilian captain and coach, has been a success.
By the way I find it ridiculous that you regard Wright-Phillips, who I believe has been on of England's most consistant performers in recent matches, as an 'international 2nd/3rd rater' whereas you'd classify Lennon as one of our best players.
- Huw, Cambridge, UK
I agree that Brazil 2009 vintage is nothing like the 1982 version. But apart from the 1970 squad, what team would or could be.
I also agree that the "Samba" football has been, to some degree, abandoned for a more "functional" european brand of football. However, this appears to be as a consequence of much of the current Brazil squad plying their trade in Europe and a coach, in Dunga, who appears to have largely abandoned the expansive style.
If you look at the players in the current sqaud, it is arguable that many of these players would have got no where near a more traditional Brazil sqaud.
But it is probably also fair to say that because of the big money available to players in Europe as compared to much, if not all, of south America, it appears to be the ambition of every player to get to Europe if not the English Premier League.
Which possibly says as much about the detrimental effect of European football on the football of the rest of world as it does about any perceived demise of the "beautiful game" per se.
- Gary, Nottingham
What utter nonsense! Brazil were superb (even if it was agst an England 2nd team).
They didn't even have to play in top gear. I can't wait for the World Cup next summer, and if Brazil have to play Spain in the final stages of the tournament, what a treat is in store.
- Richard Moseley, marbella spain
Well done Matthew, at least one writer is not permanently blinded by some out-dated media driven ideal of a Brazilian uber-footballing machine with sublime skill; it hasn't been true for at least twenty years. They have two or three genuinely world class players and the rest simply work hard - just like England. Yes, England's third string team were largely outplayed at the weekend - but did they look too horror-struck at losing a totally meaningless friendly kickabout in the desert? Especially when most of them will be know that, at best, they'll be lucky to even warm the bench in the unlikely event of them making England's World Cup squad
Dennis - Not too sure quite what the point you're making is, but it seems to be based wholly on the patently obvious and the tiresomely cliched, and is full of holes. "England's record in football history does not merit their place in the dubious Fifa ranking and such a high status in the football world" - er, well- quite right, because actually its their recent match record that merits that place. And without question England's footballing history puts Spain's to shame at a national level. Paraguay, Portugal(who have still to qualify, I might add), Cameroon and Ivory Coast are "big threats" ? Really? To whom ? Certainly not to the serious contenders.
- Richard, London UK
This article to me, is tilting dangerous and has a unsporting allegiance to the art of football. The World Cup is not just all about three countries: England, Brazil and Spain.
In honesty, this is going to be the biggest and the best World Cup in history. England's record in football history does not merit their place in the dubious Fifa ranking and such a high status in the football world. The best league in the world? Yes, albeit passion and professionalism. Technical competence? No! please look towards Spain and Italy.
Bar Ovrebo-like performances in South Africa, expect the deserving countries to win the competition hands down. The best midfield duo are Xavi,Iniesta and the best midfield quartet are Essien,Muntari, Annan and Appiah.
The Brazilians have the best flair and attacking machinery, the Germans' efficiency, the Italian's experience and guile, Paraguay's industriousness. Argentina unpredictability, the speed of the Dutch attack. Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Portugal, France are all big threats and have clinical strikers to change a game. We always know what to expect from the English team;indecision and fear. Maybe, this stats will make the points more valid.
Honestly,England must be realistic with football cuz, I can't be supporting them all these years and all I keep seeing is a one dimensional football. The technical ability is not just available. It makes watching the team's game extremely boring. How could England win the world cup in the modern era? All top
- Dennis Koranteng, London,UK
Don't know which game you were watching but at one point I counted 28 consecutive Brazilian passes (followed by a shot on goal)with England unable to get a touch on the ball. The fact that this Brazilian team is also big and strong may be misleading - I wouldn't bet against them or Spain in any match.
- Fabio, Londres
It was not good enough and at this rate we might be out in the first round. Wes Brown was outplayed and really seemed to be awed by the brazilians. We were outplayed by a very brilliant side. They changed the gears when it was needed and they did it very well. No excuses for the performance.
- Jayt, Watford, UK
