Simon Gillett offers a view from Brazil after Dunga named his 23-man squad for the World Cup finals.
Simon Gillett offers a view from Brazil after Dunga named his 23-man squad for the World Cup finals.
So Brazil's World Cup squad has been announced, and there are several headline casualties who have not made the 23.
We now know that Dunga has resisted the urge to call up either of the two wonder-kids from Santos (Neymar and Ganso), with Neymar not included at all and Ganso only making the list of seven reserves.
Reaction to Dunga's selection has been muted, with disappointment over the omission of the two players from Santos, who along with Adriano, Roberto Carlos and Ronaldinho are the notable absentees. Of the players not called up by Dunga, I personally was surprised to see Ganso, Ronaldinho and Alex missing with Luisao, Josue, and Kleberson instead getting the nod.
Dunga's loyalty to his players is legendary - his squad is exactly the same 22 players he used for the friendly against Republic of Ireland in March with the inclusion of Heurelho Gomes as an additional goalkeeper.
The life of a national coach is never easy and this is especially true in Brazil where there are 190 million people with defined opinions. As with Carlos Alberto Parreira and Luiz Felipe Scolari before him, Dunga knows that anything less than the "hexa" (the World Cup crown) will be considered a failure.
Tricky
His plight has been made more tricky over recent months by the performances of Santos in the Sao Paulo Championship. The final game was played on Sunday 1st May and, although Santos lost 3-2 to Santo Andre, they claimed the title after winning the first game by the same scoreline having finished the championship with the better record.
There are numerous subplots within this story - the beaten finalists are a relatively unknown second division team, but play an exciting brand of attacking football and have several players who have subsequently secured themselves good transfers to larger teams.
But the main story has been the performances of Santos throughout the championship. Quite simply, they have been sensational. In 30 games this year they have scored over 100 goals, and with Robinho as their captain their priorities are obvious - all they do is attack, attack and attack!
Underpinning the success of Santos has been the rise to prominence of a new generation of players. The youth system at Santos is considered one of the best in Brazil and compares favourably with West Ham's in the UK or Barcelona's in Spain. A few years ago they produced Robinho's generation including Alex, Diego and Elano and the new batch promises to be just as good.
Country gripped
What has really been gripping the country over the past 10 days or so is whether any of these boys had done enough to make it into Dunga's national squad.
Dunga has built Brazil's recent successes (they qualified easily and impressively) by creating a unified group in his own style and image. They are pragmatic, have a strong team ethic, work hard for each other, and tend to perform best on the counter attack. Dunga's preferred formation is 4-4-2, with two holding midfielders (likely to be Gilberto Silva and Felipe Melo). This upsets a large percentage of the locals who are accustomed to seeing their national team dominate opponents with attacking football.
There is fierce debate over the need for two holding midfielders whose principal job is a destructive one - to tackle and break up attacks. To make matters worse for Dunga, the success of Santos has been based on a brand of football that has won over the whole of Brazil and left people clamouring for him to call up Robinho's outstanding young team-mates Neymar and Ganso.
Of the two, Neymar generates the most publicity - he is a striker, only just 18 and extremely skilful. He is like the new Robinho - and undoubtedly a star in the making. However, he is lightweight, has a tendency to fall over a lot and, perhaps, already seems a little too interested in the fame and fortune his obvious ability is bringing.
Personally, I think the real star is Paulo Henrique Ganso - at 21 he plays in midfield and really looks the complete player. He can pass, tackle, head, get up and down the pitch, and score. He is naturally extremely skilful with wonderful vision and appears a born leader.
As a self-confessed Chelsea fan I would love for the hierarchy at Stamford Bridge to consider a move for him - regarded as the next Kaka in Brazil, he could turn out to be the ideal long-term replacement for Frank Lampard! Unfortunately, it looks more likely they'll both end up at Barca, Real, or Milan, or maybe even Manchester City who, so it is claimed, have an option on them as part of Robinho's loan deal.
A final interesting point is the difference in Robinho - he loves it at Santos where he is the main man, and his form has improved accordingly. From the outside looking in he is given free rein to do as he pleases on the pitch, something which he didn't get at either Real or City. European football may well require a greater level of discipline from him, but for those of us who love the beautiful game his switch back home has been a real blessing.
