The former Seleção midfielder has told The Guardian that he has faith in the national coach, and believes the team could go all the way at the World Cup.
Mirandinha said: “We have a good chance to be in the final because we are here, with our people, the Brazilian people will be together with the national team.
“We have now a very good coach, [Luiz Felipe] Scolari is the best coach for Brazil in this moment and we have top, top players in Europe. They will be important because a lot of players in the national team play in Europe and they know how everyone plays, they have a lot of information for Scolari. Brazil have a great chance to be in the final."
Mirandinha, who moved to England in the late 1980s, remembers that period of his life fondly.
“I still think about Newcastle. I love Newcastle and was so happy there. English football for me was very, very important because I was the first Brazilian to play there. The first three months were horrible because I had never been in this situation before, I’d never played in snow. It was difficult but after a while I had a chance to play well."
It wasn’t just the weather in the north of England that Mirandinha has had problems with over the years.
Roy Hodgson and his team will not be happy to read that the Brazilian didn’t feel comfortable on a past visit to Manaus either.
He said: “When I went there it was difficult to breathe."
