Estonia-Brazil Preview

Estonia v. Brazil
Tallinn, Estonia, A. Le Coq Arena
Wednesday, August 12, 2009, 1:15 P.M. Eastern

First, one bit of news that I did not write about was Elano’s move from Manchester City to Galatasaray for £8 million. Credit to blogger Joel Brown for posting this on the comments board. It’s a good move for both the team and the player. He’ll be playing in the Champions League this season as a result and should benefit from new manager Frank Rijkaard’s tutelage. Correction: Galatasaray is playing in the Europa League this season.

As far as the Estonia match goes….Estonia?? At first glance you think this trip to Tallinn is nothing but a trip to advertise Nike Football’s greatest billboard, the seleção, in Eastern Europe, which undoubtedly part of the reason for this match. Estonia is ranked 112th in the FIFA rankings. They enter Wednesday with 1-3-2 record in qualifying, 5th in a 6 team table. Their leading scorer is Konstantin Vassiljev of Slovenian club NK Nafta Lendava. None of their players play in any of the top 5 leagues in the world. In their last match, Estonia drew 0-0 at home to Portugal on June 10th.

However, when you also take into consideration that everyone is preparing for the start of their respective seasons, and a difficult away qualifier against Argentina is upcoming, perhaps an easier friendly makes a lot of sense.

I am not expecting too much from this match. I think you’ll see a lot of people get a chance to play. I would be stunned to see Kaka play for more than 60 minutes. Hopefully we will get to see Dani Alves at left back for the full 90 minutes. Brazil should win this match with ease. Even if the team found a way to draw, I think many will give them a pass given the circumstances.

Brazil

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Gomes (Tottenham Hotspur)

Defenders: Andre Santos (Fenerbahce), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Maicon (Inter Milan), Filipe (Deportivo), Lucio (Inter Milan), Luisao (Benfica), Miranda (Sao Paulo), Juan (AS Roma)

Midfielders: Elano (Galatasaray), Felipe Melo (Juventus), Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos), Josue (VfL Wolfsburg), Ramires (Benfica), Julio Baptista (AS Roma), Kaka (Real Madrid), Kleberson (Flamengo)

Forwards: Luis Fabiano (Sevilla), Nilmar (Villarreal), Robinho (Manchester City), Diego Tardelli (Atletico Mineiro)

Predicted Starting XI: Julio Cesar, Dani Alves, Juan, Lucio, Maicon, Ramires, Felipe Melo, Gilberto Silva, Kaka, Luis Fabiano, Robinho.

Prediction: 2-0 Brazil