Brazil

Dutch football legend Johan Cruyff has hit out at Brazil ahead of their quarter-final meeting with Netherlands on Friday, suggesting they play dull football and that he wouldn't buy a ticket to watch them play. Lucky he probably doesn't have to pay isn't it.

"Where has the Brazil team we all know disappeared to in this World Cup?" he said. "I look at this team and I remember people like Gerson, Tostao, Falcao, Zico or Socrates. Now I only see Gilberto, Melo, Bastos, Julio Baptista.

I wish I could jump in a hot tub and travel back in time 100 years. If I could, I would stop all that is wrong in the game from ever happening and make sure that all the bad things that do happen could not happen. I would put salary caps in the game, I would make the punishment for cheating severe, for bribery very severe and I'd make sure that the game, above all things, remained honest and had some values.

I don't have a hot tub though so I cant do what should have been done years ago and I apologise for the rant, but the game tonight just turned into who was the best cheat and it isn't very nice.

The way this World Cup is getting played out, I wouldn't be surprised if Sven Sven Sven Goran Eriksson was right now in his hotel room brewing up a potion to give his players extra speed and extra strength tonight and tonight, the Ivory Coast beat Brazil.

Naturally, the smart money will be on Brazil, but the clever money might be on Ivory Coast and while we don't know that for sure we do know it will be an interesting game tonight.

Hot off the back of a man of the match performance when Brazil beat North Korea earlier this week, Robinho is praising team-mate Kaka.

"When Kaka plays well he can decide any game. He is very important to us," Robinho noted.

Brazil striker Nilmar said yesterday that his fellow team mates still believed Spain are favourites despite losing to Switzerland on Wednesday in their first Group H match of the World Cup.

"That could be a lesson for other teams - this result shows what can happen at a World Cup," said Nilmar.

At half time it was 0-0 and there was every chance an upset was on the cards. Okay, maybe not every chance, but there was a chance and despite having predicted Brazil would win and having money on it, I sort of would have liked it if they had won. But, it was never going to happen.

But, they did well. The first half was all about getting as many men behind the ball as possible and stopping Brazil at every chance and they did it well. The second was different.

This is the big game of the day. Any competitive game including Brazil is the big game of the day and you will see a lot of this team in this tournament as we fancy they will get to the final and we fancy they might even win it, although we will hold out predicting another World Cup until we've seen a few games first.

But tonight they will win - no doubt. No disrespect to North Korea but they are not in the same league as Brazil.

Ahead of their World Cup opening match later this evening, Brazil coach Dunga has defended 'his' style of football to the waiting media and had a strong argument that is hard to fault.

“In Brazil, they’re always saying we don’t play beautiful football any more,” Dunga told reporters. “But there’s one point I’d like to make: in 1989, Brazil had not won the Copa America for 30 or 40 years and the World Cup for 20 years.

Brazil beat Zimbabwe 3-0 in Harare in front of thousands of fans witnessing the first visit to the country by a non-African national team since 1980 and they were not disappointed.

Brazil were using the game as a warm-up before the World Cup starting next week, won with goals from Michel Bastos, Robinho and Elano.

Brazil have landed. Cool as you like the players strolled through the airport, jumped on their bus and left for their five star hotel in Randburg. They will be taking it easy today with possibly some light training, but it is business as usual from tomorrow.

With Australia arriving in South Africa last night and tournament favourites landing this morning, excitement in South Africa is increasing and the reality of the World Cup is finally hitting home.