Brazil vs Mexico Match Thread

June 3rd, 2012 | by: Black Matt | Comments Off

Today Brazil take on Mexico in the third of their pre-Olympic friendlies. According to Globo, Mano is trotting out the exact same lineup he used against the USA. While I think everyone here would prefer to see Juan and Danilo replaced, and perhaps Romulo as well, at least the side is developing some cohesiveness and compatibility. Sometimes that’s just as important as the names in the starting XI.

In any case, if you’ve forgotten, here they are:

G: Rafael
LB: Danilo
CB: Thiago Silva (c), Juan
RB: Marcelo
DM: Sandro, Romulo
LW: Neymar
A: Oscar
RW: Hulk
CF: Leandro Damiao

Likely substitutes:

Pato, Casemiro, Lucas

We last played Mexico toward the latter part of 2011. Brazil largely dominated the 1st half, with Hulk in particular looming large (he even threw in a backheel throughball to Neymar, putting the youngster 1v1 with the goalkeeper before blazing over the bar) but found themselves down 1 thanks to a David Luiz own goal off a cross. Jefferson should have fond memories of this game, though: he saved a penalty in 1st half stoppage time.

In the 2nd, and down to 10 men thanks to the madness of Dani Alves, Brazil probably put in, if not their most aesthetically pleasing half ever, one of their more courageous ones. Rather than retreating into a shell, Brazil still looked to keep possession, helped by a listless Mexico side that felt the match was already won. Ronaldinho leveled the score-sheet thanks to a free kick. Marcelo’s fabulous goal completed the comeback. Feel free to watch it again, it’s maybe the best we’ve had under Mano:

I think this is a stronger side than the one we displayed last year, but Mexico, too, will be looking to improve, as they are on the eve of World Cup qualifications.

I’ve been conservative, even pessimistic with my predictions so far. The result has been two victories with great scorelines. I won’t break the trend. I think Brazil wins this 2-1.

For those of you who can read Portuguese, Globoesporte has a nice little review of the Brazil-Mexican rivalry. Read it here.