Few national teams have experienced the ups and downs of Brazil over the past five years but the good news for fans of the Selecao is that they are ascendant as Russia approaches. Brazil won the 2013 Confederations Cup, hammering an all-conquering Spain side 3-0 in the final. A year later they were humiliated 7-1 at home by Germany in the World Cup semifinals and early exits at the Copa America in 2015 and 2016 deepened the gloom. But the improvement since Tite took over as coach in June 2016 has been remarkable, and Brazil are now joint favourites to win a sixth World Cup. Much of the credit goes to the wily coach, who has instilled a sense of purpose in a team that looked lost under his predecessor, Dunga. Tite has retained only seven of the 23 players who failed on home soil four years ago, with Neymar, Marcelo, Dani Alves, Fernandinho, Thiago Silva, Willian and Paulinho among those likely to make the final 23.
Any doubts the coach might have harboured over Neymar’s knee in...
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