Nothing but a convincing win will redeem Samba Boys

The World Cup is all about winning. It doesn’t matter how bad the win comes. If it means simulation, play-acting, diving and what-have-you, so be it. That is why Big Phil was unabashed as he looked into the cameras and declared that Brazil deservingly won the penalty that broke Croatia’s resistance. The Selecao were heavily fancied to see off Croatia but struggled. Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura even had to disallow a legitimate Croatian equaliser to keep Brazil in hype. But it will not be the same referee this time. Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir will take charge of the Brazil-Mexico clash, with the hosts knowing they can afford a loss but still progress after beating Cameroon in their final group game. But Scolari will try to give out a convincing victory this time around. Anything short of that will see all opponents take chalk belief that they can beat the Samba Boys. Brazil will also have to cut the play-acting and simulation image. From Korea-Japan when Rivaldo was fined $60,000 for getting Turkey’s Hakan Unsal sent off, the image has been bad. Fred’s dive against Croatia was unsportsman, and Cakir will be expected to rein in on simulation. Mexico, buoyed by their scintillating performance against Cameroon will come all out to capitalise on Brazil’s scalps. But chances of them outsmarting Scolari are as low as that of Greece winning the World Cup. If you love risks and you are daring, go for a draw. In the other games tonight, where Honduras were horrendous against France; Greece green against Colombia, and Spain in pain, Belgium are highly fancied to beat the Desert Foxes of Algeria. Barring a shocker like that of Costa Rica beating Uruguay, Algeria will fall to handicap. At midnight, South Korea is expected to have enough gas to last 90 minutes and not fall like Japan. The Asian sides are known for starting well and falling to fatigue. But Korea can do it. We want the tournament’s first draw.

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Nothing but a convincing win will redeem Samba Boys