Dunga: Brazil Had To Be Superior All-Round To Beat World Champions Italy

Brazil strolled to a comfortable 3-0 win over bitter rivals Italy in the final group game of the FIFA Confederations Cup and in the process eliminated the reigning world champions from the competition.

Coach Dunga was suitably pleased with his side’s performance in what was their second victory over the Azzurri in the space of four months, and he put it all down to the pre-game preparations.

“Italy tried to control the game by keeping hold of possession. I told my players that we had to concentrate every minute of the game and pressure our opponents,” he said during the post-match press conference.

“In the end, we were superior in all areas of the field and we had to be in order to beat the champions of the world. We prepared really well for this game.”

Having avoided Spain in the semi-finals, Brazil are now on course to meet FIFA’s number one ranked team in a mouth-watering Confederations Cup final, but Dunga assured that his samba stars are fully focused on South Africa first.

“They are coached by Joel Santana, who is one of the more respected Brazilian coaches, and together we have had many meetings,” he said.

“South Africa have a strong team, especially physically and they will also have the full support of the home crowd. We must be careful with them. But I believe we can still improve because we have players with great technical ability and because we are playing together more and more.”

Brazil’s semi-final clash with Bafana Bafana will take place on June 25.

KS Leong, Goal.com

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