Neymar’s second half goal won the game, but Costa Rica held their own for much of Friday’s friendly at home to Brazil, and probably shaded the first half.
I was glad to see it, because in the days leading up to the match the Costa Ricans were taking a battering in the Brazilian press, who did not see the Central Americans as worthy opponents for Mano Menezes’s team, especially as the game took key players away from an important round of the Brazilian Championship.
Dede was badly missed shoring up the Vasco da Gama defence. Without him his team-mates went down 3-0 to Internacional, a result that could end up having a huge bearing on the destiny of the title. To be fair, Inter were also without Oscar.
Both sides were also understrength in the most important Flamengo-Fluminense derby of recent times. No Fred for Flu, no Ronaldinho for Fla. Before the game the consensus was that Fluminense were better equipped to shrug off the absence of their star, but in the event two late goals gave Flamengo a 3-2 win.
Botafogo missed goalkeeper Jefferson as they dropped home points against Bahia.
Ralf was not present when Corinthians took the field against Atletico Goianense in the knowledge that a win would take them to the top of the table. Rever missed Atletico Mineiro’s relegation derby against America. And there is also Lucas of Sao Paulo, but suspension would have kept him out of his team’s visit to Cruzeiro.
It is clearly absurd that these players were not participating in a crunch round of the best Brazilian Championship in recent times. But to blame Costa Rica for this, as some of the local press were doing, is to miss the point entirely.
The semi-serious Confederations Cup aside, friendlies are all Brazil have on the route to hosting the 2014 World Cup. Mano Menezes only has the FIFA dates when he can call upon all the players available to him. Not to take advantage of these FIFA dates would be madness. In a sense, it hardly matters who Brazil play.
There are clear risks in drawing too many conclusions from what happens in friendly matches. But there is huge benefit in gathering the players together, introducing some new faces, working on the training field and doing all those things which in the long run help transform a collection of individuals into a single, cohesive unit.
Some might argue that Costa Rica were not the ideal opponents for Brazil. Maybe not. Menezes, though, has always emphasised the need to test out his team against sides from different regions, and currently it is the turn of Central America, which Mexico the next opponents on Tuesday night.
But whether, last Friday, Brazil played Costa Rica or world champions Spain, that group of domestically based players would still have been missing from the Brazilian Championship matches. The problem, then, has nothing to do with Costa Rica, and everything to do with the inept calendar of Brazilian football.
It is at this point that so many in the Brazilian game appear to have a blind spot. Because many people are complaining about the calendar, but few are able to identify a truth which could hardly be more obvious – if you play State Championships from late January to mid May, and if therefore you only start the National Championship at the end of May, THEN THERE IS SIMPLY NOT ENOUGH SPACE AVAILABLE TO HAVE A RATIONAL CALENDAR WHICH PAUSES FOR FIFA DATES. Like trying to pour 2 litres of water into a 1.5 litre bottle, 38 dates do not fit.
So important in the early days of the game, the State Championships are absurdly past their sell by date. They kill the start of the Brazilian Championship – any long league competition needs a pause beforehand, this is basic and non-negotiable. They throw Brazil out of sync with the rest of the world, making it impossible, for example, for Brazilian clubs to travel to prestigious pre-season tournaments. Indeed, they make it impossible for Brazilian clubs to have a pre-season worthy of the name.
And now, as we have seen, their existence forces the best players to miss vital club games – a problem which is only going to grow as, with the domestic championship improving, more home based players are called up to play for their country (which may not just mean Brazil – Botafogo also lost Uruguayan striker Sebastian Abreu to his national team, and Jorge Valdivia of Palmeiras was with Chile rather than taking on Santos).
It is also a problem which is not going to disappear on its own. The power structure of the Braziliangame has a vested interest in maintaining the State Championships. Next year’s calendar, announced on Friday, will have the same clashes between club and international commitments. Until the State Championships are scrapped -or transformed into a midweek cup – then this type of thing will go on and on.
The big question is this; how long will the big clubs permit themselves to be stunted by a calendar that does not serve their interests? Time to stop blaming Costa Rica, and start blaming the CBF.
