Friday, July 2, 2010


Except the 2010 versions of Brazil and Holland are very different from previous incarnations as both coaches admitted on Thursday evening.

Football, they said, had moved on from 1974 and 1978 (the high spots for the Dutch) and 1982 (for Brazil); that great team that promised so much but failed to win in the final. And winning is all that matters to Carlos Dunga and Bert van Marwijk.

Pragmatism first; everything else a distant second. Both are achieving that aim.

“Total Football was 1974,” Van Marwijk stated on Thursday night. “That’s a long time ago and I know there was the 'samba football’ of Brazil. But football changes.

"Everyone is getting fitter and better organised. So when you play now it is more difficult to win the World Cup.

“I can understand why the Brazilians have changed also. But they can win the World Cup and so can we. In the past we’ve won a couple of matches and thought we’d made it and then were sent home.”

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