Cameroon became the first African nation to defeat Brazil 1-0 in third final Group G match. Brazil defeated Switzerland 1-0 on Monday in World Cup Group G action, qualifying for the Round of 16.
It’s a little over 20 years since the Rumo ao Penta came to an end in Yokohama. Brazil lifted the World Cup for a fifth time after Ronaldo twice got the better of a flailing Oliver Kahn in the Germany goal. Kids everywhere copied a hairstyle that will never come back in fashion. “Horrible,” Ronaldo self-deprecatingly acknowledged. “I apologise to all the mothers who saw their kids make the same haircut.”
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His legacy was to be found elsewhere instead. In Japan and South Korea, Ronaldo not only matched Pele as the Brazilian player with the most goals at the World Cup, but he also got on the scoresheet in every game bar one — the quarter-final against England when Ronaldinho lobbed David Seaman and then set up Rivaldo. That winter, France Football presented Ronaldo with his third Ballon d’Or.
Since O Fenomeno’s retirement in 2011, it has not been easy for Brazil’s strikers to step out of his shadow. It looms large as if cast by that depiction of him in a famous Pirelli advert as Christ the Redeemer atop Corcovado.
Ronaldo’s successor should have been Adriano, only for the death of O Imperador’s father to trigger a spiral into alcoholism and depression. Over the past decade, Neymar has had to shoulder the weight of symbol, creator and goalscorer as his coaches reached into the tombola of club football and pulled out Luis Fabiano, Fred, Vagner Love, Leandro Damiao, Grafite, Alexandre Pato, Diego Tardelli, Jonas, Luiz Adriano, Ricardo Oliveira and Borges.
Depth was there in other positions — for instance, picking a goalkeeper between Alisson and Ederson. But with the World Cup in Qatar less than two months away, it finally feels a little bit like the late ’90s again. Tite isn’t as spoilt for choice as Mario Zagallo, who “betrayed” Romario by picking Edmundo and a past-his-best Bebeto in 1998. He doesn’t have a sure thing like Ronaldo. But he does have the kind of sweet headache a few too many caipirinhas can cause.
Read more: Brazil World Cup 2022 squad guide: More than enough quality to deliver the ‘Hex’
Brazil have spent the last 10 days in and around Paris. Tuesday’s friendly against Tunisia was held at the Parc des Princes, home of Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain, a club that showcases the crown jewels of this state-sponsored World Cup: Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe. Tite has an embarrassment of riches himself. When Gabriel Jesus’ name did not feature in his latest squad, there was understandable consternation. Since leaving Manchester City for Arsenal in the summer, Jesus looks reborn, released even, and is playing arguably the best football of his career.
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On the one hand, Arsenal fans have welcomed the unexpected rest Tite has afforded the three Gabriels (Jesus, Martinelli and Magalhaes) before the weekend’s north London derby. On the other, they’re dumbfounded that a player this talented, this in form, did not board the Eurostar for the Gare du Nord.
Should Jesus be worried? Well, Tite and him go way back.
This is a player Tite ushered into the Brazil setup when Jesus was still a prospect at Palmeiras. Jesus scored twice on his debut and reached double figures in 17 caps. He quickly struck up an understanding with Neymar, led the press and found the net at crucial moments in tricky games against Venezuela, Peru and Chile. “Lethal,” Tite called him, and he wasn’t the only one converted by Jesus. “He’s the new Ronaldo,” purred Dani Alves. “He’s going to be one of the greats.”
Then, at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Jesus ran and ran and ran but did not score in five games. It was the source of growing frustration back home. When Brazil bowed out to Belgium in the quarter-finals, Tite’s refusal to drop him provoked a national debate. “You like Tite. So do I,” wrote Jose Luiz Portella in Lance. “He’s the best manager in Brazil and made me believe in the Selecao again. But he is so stubborn. He was prepared to go to the grave with Gabriel Jesus, even as he underperformed. Don’t come to me saying that he was important tactically; the best tactic for a striker is to put the ball in the net.”
Read more: Brazil 4-1 South Korea: Richarlison wonder goal, Tite’s dancing, Neymar one short of Pele’s record
The experience knocked Jesus’ confidence. “It was very difficult to come to terms with,” he said. “It was my toughest moment as a footballer. It bowled me over at the start of the season.” Tite initially dropped Jesus after the last World Cup. When he welcomed him back into the fold it was as a winger hugging the right touchline. Jesus performed well in the role at the 2019 Copa America and reprised it again in the same tournament last summer, either leaving the half-space on that side to Lucas Paqueta or assuming the position himself when Everton Ribeiro was rotated into the line-up.
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But Jesus didn’t score in Brazil’s run to the final and was suspended after receiving a straight red moments after Paqueta broke open a delicately poised quarter-final against Chile. Jesus’ kung-fu kick on Eugenio Mena could have compromised Brazil’s tournament. In the end, Renan Lodi saw to that by failing to cut out Rodrigo De Paul’s through ball for Angel Di Maria’s winner in the final against Argentina.
In the last year, Jesus’ hybrid role out wide has come under threat. The emergence of Raphinha and Antony, both more at ease in the role, has led Tite to re-evaluate. So, too, has Jesus’ rebirth at Arsenal as a No 9. The player laying the greatest claim to that shirt for Brazil at the moment is another 25-year-old who swapped north-west England for north London in the summer: Richarlison. After his brace against Ghana in Le Havre last week, he pleaded with the fans back home to get behind him. “I hope the Brazilian people believe in me more because when called on by the national team, I score a lot. I’m wearing the No 9 jersey today and every time I wear it, I’m scoring. I hope it stays that way.”
Richarlison isn’t wrong.
He has scored 17 goals from 24 starts, seven goals in his last six appearances for the Selecao and is his country’s top scorer in 2022. Tite views him as a penetrative, direct forward who is always focused on getting into the box. He may not be as subtle as Jesus or Roberto Firmino in the intricacies of Brazil’s build-up play in the final third, but this is a team that does not lack creativity. Should he wish, Richarlison can leave that to Neymar, Paqueta, Raphinha and Vinicius Junior. Richarlison applies the finishing touches. He played the final ball in a gorgeous 29-pass move against Peru at last summer’s Copa America and, more recently, concluded another 25-pass manoeuvre against Ghana. “He doesn’t look to the side,” Tite said. “He only has eyes for the goal.”
Senses matter to Tite. In his vast experience, the most prolific strikers give off a scent and he has picked it up in Richarlison. “He smells of goals,” Tite keeps saying. Reeks of them. His ability in the air — three of Richarlison’s five goals for club and country this season have been with his head — is something Brazil have lacked since Fred’s brief purple patch in the lead-up to the 2014 World Cup. Should Richarlison be fit in Qatar, the role now feels like his to lose, especially after the past week’s three goals and an assist against Ghana and Tunisia. Tite has not overlooked or disregarded Jesus. He knows him like the back of his hand. “Gabriel Jesus is in great form and is in the running. Absolutely,” Tite said. “This squad is about giving opportunities to others.”
Take, for instance, Matheus Cunha, a facilitator closest in mould to Firmino. The Atletico Madrid forward tensed up in the 3-0 win over Ghana and didn’t make the most of the half-hour Tite afforded him. At the Parc against Tunisia on Tuesday night came Pedro’s turn. The tall, effective yet inelegant striker has overtaken his Flamengo team-mate Gabriel Barbosa in the pecking order. Both flopped in Europe — Pedro in an all-too-brief spell with Fiorentina and Barbosa, more famously, at Inter Milan — yet domestically they dominate. Back once again in the Copa Libertadores final, Pedro has scored 12 in 12 games, including four at the Maracana against Deportes Tolima and a hat-trick away to Velez Sarsfield in the semi-final.
“His characteristics are different from those of the No 9s we have,” Tite said. “We have players who have good movement, speed, players who attack the space, who drop into midfield to collect the ball and combine. And then there are those, like Fred, who stay forward and are more about the final ball, about conclusion. That player is Pedro.” He may well act as the wildcard, a plan C or D, his credentials enhanced by opening his account for Brazil during a second-half cameo against Tunisia. “I hope it’s the first of many,” Pedro said.
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Firmino requires no further opportunities or introduction and his place in the squad showed, contrary to Tite’s explanation of Jesus’ absence, that the try-outs in attack were experimental only up to a point. After Jesus lost his place in the wake of the last World Cup, it was Firmino who took on the role of Brazil striker. Some people were of the opinion he should have taken over from him already in Russia. The Copa America the following summer figured as an overdue moment of validation for Firmino, whose move to Europe came before he even made an appearance in Brazil. Early call-ups were met with sceptical cries of “who’s this?” Walter Casagrande, the former Brazil striker turned columnist, argued for Manchester City and Everton flop Jo to take his place on the back of a solid spell at Corinthians in 2017. “Jo is a better footballer than Firmino,” Casagrande felt. “He can offer more to the team.”
But Liverpool’s Champions League success won people over and Tite always “got” him. He has called Firmino the “Brazilian Benzema” and loves the intelligence he brings to the role. “As well as being a great finisher, Firmino makes everything easier for his colleagues,” wrote former Brazil forward Tostao in the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper. “He’s constantly moving. His game isn’t just about goals.”
Yet there are still question marks. Firmino is the ideal foil for Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane at Anfield, but he has not always clicked in Brazil’s setup and was the only player in the squad this international break who didn’t play a single minute. When Neymar and Philippe Coutinho are playing, his tendency to drop off in search of the ball congests things in midfield. One of Tite’s watchwords is “profundidade” (depth, or the ability to stretch the pitch) but Firmino rarely darts in behind. When opponents sit deep, Brazil can look too polite, even a little one-note with him in the side. Not so with the hole-punching Richarlison leading the line.
It is an exciting team. Since the Copa America last summer, Vinicius and Raphinha — devastating in the 5-1 win over Tunisia — have been integrated further into the side. In both friendlies, Tite did cool stuff with his right-backs, making them step into midfield when Paqueta or Fred joined in the attack. It allowed Brazil to have five players fanned out in the final third — Vinicius, Neymar, Richarlison, Paqueta and Raphinha. Whoever plays up front will not be starved of service or short of chances.
Twenty years on from the “penta”, the pursuit of the “hexa” — a sixth World Cup — goes on. Tite has Jesus, Firmino, Pedro and Matheus Cunha.
But as in 2002, Brazil also have an R9.
Now it’s up to Richarlison to do his best to emulate Ronaldo.
(Photos: Getty Images/Design: Eamonn Dalton)