Cafu: "Today it could be Holland's turn"

Friday, 2 July 2010

Marcos Evangelista de Moraes AKA Cafu is Brazil's record international and has two World Cup medals on his pedigree. Twice ('94 and '98) he was part of the Brazilian squad that knocked out the Netherlands. Twice it was a close call, and it will be again today, the former AC Milan star thinks.

Cafu winner of two World Cups

Cafu. "It will be a tough game. Both nations are big in football. In '98 and '94 Holland have provided us with real big problems. Both countries have a chance to win it."

The World Champion who was one of the best right-backs in his days has also seen that Brazil don't play as offensive as they used to. "It's true. It's Dunga's style. But the players have to make sure they understand his system well. The tactics have worked well so far. Dunga has shown you can get really good results with this system. It's true, the system is different than that of previous teams. But the team has proven they can win games this way."

People have said that this team have no really big stars, with Kaká not on his best form and Robinho still only a prospect. "Well, before we had Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, now we have Kaká, Robinho and Luis Fabiano. In Brazil its such that when the big players quit there's always new players ready to take their places."

But even though Brazil's big stars have not yet shown themselves, Cafu sees few weaknesses in the team. "Do they have weaknesses? I don't know. We are yet to see them. Every team has it's weaknesses and so has Brazil. But we have to make sure we improve on these weaknesses."

Cafu ended his career in 2008 after 448 professional games at club level and was capped by his country a staggering 142 times. Since then he has moved away from football a bit. "At the moment I work for a very big agency in Brazil. And I am president of my own foundation, in which I invest a lot of time. We are now working for seven hundred children. We're very active."

He knows Holland will be looking for a revenge for 1994 and 1998. If the Dutch do so they will level the overall balance at the World Cup, at which Brazil have won two, and Holland won one of the three games played. Cafu thinks it's not impossible: "In football anything can happen. Today it can be Holland's turn. And although Holland have a very good team, you can't say for certain. Football is unpredictable. One chance can be enough to decide a game. But it will be a great game for sure. It's hard to predict the outcome. It will be very difficult game, but I hope Brazil will win."