Gilberto tells Brazil not to forget defence
September 21, 2005
LONDON (AP) – With the World Cup only nine months away, Brazil midfielder Gilberto Silva has a warning for his teammates: now is not the time to lose your place in the squad.
Defending champion Brazil has probably its strongest, deepest roster ever ahead of its attempt for a sixth title.
With a maximum 23 players going to Germany, however, the Arsenal midfielder says a lot of stars are going to miss out.
“It’s not easy for the coach. The people say they want to put all of the stars together. But you can’t do that,” Gilberto told The Associated Press in an interview. “I think (the coach) would love to do that kind of thing but he can’t. He only has 11 players to pick on the starting lineup.
“It’s not easy to join the team now. You have to fight to get your place back in the squad.”
With a place in next year’s finals now guaranteed, coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has the option of experimenting with his lineup next month when Brazil faces Bolivia and Venezuela – the lowest-placed teams in the South American standings – next month in its final qualifying games.
“There’s only 22, 23 players (at the World Cup) and, outside of the squad, there are a lot of good players who can try and get in,” Gilberto said.
“But that’s not easy because of who’s in the squad at the moment and who want to keep their place and want to go to the World Cup and want to defend the title.”
Parreira also won’t be able to field all his big stars in the starting lineup and, with Inter Milan’s Adriano and Real Madrid’s Robinho chasing starting spots, even the likes of three-time FIFA player of the year Ronaldo may be on the bench.
Brazil also has attacking midfielders Kaka of AC Milan and FC Barcelona’s Ronaldinho, who on Monday was voted player of the year by his fellow pros – adding the title to his FIFA player of the year award.
With so much attacking talent, Gilberto says that Parreira has to be careful that his defense isn’t exposed.
“These days the fans in Brazil realize you have to defend well. Now the whole team knows that, when they don’t have the ball, they have to drop off and support each other,” said Gilberto, who played as a second-half substitute in this month’s 5-0 victory over Chile that clinched a World Cup spot.
“When you have the ball, it’s great to attack,” Gilberto said. “But, when we don’t, we have to defend well and cover the positions and do our job.”