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Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella: Hosting the World Cup is a double-edged sword for Brazil
The trainer saluted the quality of their South American rivals, but thinks that the expectations of playing on home soil could be a negative factor
9 Jan 2012 16:46:00
By Daniel Edwards
alejandro sabella (argentina coach)
Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella believes that the pressure of playing in front of their own fans could be a burden for Brazil in the 2014 World Cup.
The Albiceleste have enjoyed a fairly positive start to Conmebol qualifying, with a loss against Venezuela the only blemish in four games which have yielded seven points and taken the side level with Uruguay.
Brazil have no need to qualify from South America due to their hosting of the next tournament, something Sabella asserts could be a positive and negative for their continental rivals.
"Home advantage can be a double-edged sword and it all depends on the character of the players. Brazilian players are very special and possess tremendous technique. If they hit their stride they can destroy you, wipe the floor with you, thrash you," the coach told Fifa.com on Monday.
"They’ll also be under pressure though. They’ll have the obligation of having to win and we’ll have to see how they handle that. They’ll be big favourites of course."
The former Estudiantes man is not a believer in self-criticism, once more repeating Mao-Tse-Tung's famous quote that, but did concede he remains concerned with his side's defensive frailties.
"It is a symptom of weakness. There’s something in that because it is a weakness when taken to an extreme. Reading that helped me because I’ve always been critical with myself.
"Overhauling the defence is taking a bit more time, that’s true. We need to stay grounded about it but when you’ve got strikers of the quality of [Lionel] Messi, [Gonzalo] Higuain and [Sergio] Aguero, I don’t think people should be offended by anyone saying the backline is proving to be a bit more of a headache."
Argentina resume their Conmebol campaign in June with a home match against Ecuador.
| Bet: | Returns: | Brazil £15.71 | Draw £36.00 | Mexico £52.50 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Brazil £16.20 | Draw £42.00 | Mexico £50.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Brazil £16.15 | Draw £38.00 | Mexico £55.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Brazil £15.70 | Draw £38.00 | Mexico £60.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Brazil £15.80 | Draw £36.00 | Mexico £59.00 |
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The Albiceleste have enjoyed a fairly positive start to Conmebol qualifying, with a loss against Venezuela the only blemish in four games which have yielded seven points and taken the side level with Uruguay.
Brazil have no need to qualify from South America due to their hosting of the next tournament, something Sabella asserts could be a positive and negative for their continental rivals.
"Home advantage can be a double-edged sword and it all depends on the character of the players. Brazilian players are very special and possess tremendous technique. If they hit their stride they can destroy you, wipe the floor with you, thrash you," the coach told Fifa.com on Monday.
"They’ll also be under pressure though. They’ll have the obligation of having to win and we’ll have to see how they handle that. They’ll be big favourites of course."
The former Estudiantes man is not a believer in self-criticism, once more repeating Mao-Tse-Tung's famous quote that, but did concede he remains concerned with his side's defensive frailties.
"It is a symptom of weakness. There’s something in that because it is a weakness when taken to an extreme. Reading that helped me because I’ve always been critical with myself.
"Overhauling the defence is taking a bit more time, that’s true. We need to stay grounded about it but when you’ve got strikers of the quality of [Lionel] Messi, [Gonzalo] Higuain and [Sergio] Aguero, I don’t think people should be offended by anyone saying the backline is proving to be a bit more of a headache."
Argentina resume their Conmebol campaign in June with a home match against Ecuador.
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Live!
England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 6-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.
Hosted by Joe Doyle
Hosted by Joe Doyle
22:00 BST
Some more from 'WELBZ': "To get my first England goal in that way, obviously I'm really delighted and it's a massive honour.
"I'm just really looking to build on that performance and get more games under my belt and more goals.
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"It's something I've been waiting for for a long time. I've had a few caps under my belt and one or two starts. So, just to get the goal today, I'm really delighted."
21:50 BST
And here are some quotes from today's goalscorer, Danny Welbeck: "It's still the same, me and Ashley [Young] playing together.
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"So, it was really good to start up top with him."
"We know each other's games and obviously we're training with each other day in and day out.
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21:49 BST
So, judging from those tweets, people aren't too confident on Portugal qualifying from their group. Who will qualify from each group? Let me know on Twitter.
21:38 BST
And it's now 3-1 to Turkey! An own goal from Pepe and we're into time added on. Do people think Portugal will qualify from their group?
21:34 BST
Into the final few minutes with Portugal still 2-1 down to Turkey. Cristiano Ronaldo missed his second ever penalty for Portugal earlier on.
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