Cunha rejects “revenge” v Croatia, vows attack-minded Brazil | OneFootball

Forward Matheus Cunha ruled out any sense of revenge against Croatia in the friendly scheduled for this Tuesday, Brazil’s last one before the final World Cup squad announcement. Kickoff is at 9 p.m. (Brasília time) at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.

This will be Brazil’s first meeting with the Croatians since they knocked the Seleção out in the 2022 World Cup quarterfinals in Qatar. On that occasion, Croatia beat Brazil on penalties. For Matheus Cunha, however, the context is different four years later.

“Just like Croatia and France, they are two national teams on the very top shelf of world football. We generally don’t have much experience against them; we usually play against South American teams, so it’s wonderful to have these opportunities to prepare ourselves better. There’s no way to see it as revenge — it’s a different group, we see it as an opportunity. Like any other match, we want to go out there and come away with the win, regardless of it being a friendly. Wearing this shirt, there’s no other mindset than winning the game,” the player said.

Cunha also looked ahead to the friendly against Croatia. The Manchester United player mentioned the Croatians’ style of play and predicted that Ancelotti may field a more crowded midfield, but promised that the Seleção will not give up its attacking approach, which has become a trademark of the team under the Italian coach.

“Tactically, he always talks to us so we can adapt according to the opponent. France proposed a game a little more similar to ours. Croatia has a slightly different style, with a more compact midfield. Without a doubt, he [Ancelotti] will prepare us to deal with that midfield in a different way, but without losing our identity — a very attacking game, with many forwards, but a little more structured. He still hasn’t given us the 100% final definition; we still have today’s training session, but it’s very clear that we’ll do everything possible to always be ready and available for whatever he wants,” he said.

Did the loss to France shake the Seleção?

The defeat to France did not shake the Brazilian national team’s confidence, according to Cunha, who still believes there is plenty of room for improvement with two months to go before the World Cup. Last Thursday, Brazil lost 2-1 despite having one more player on the field in the first friendly of this FIFA window.

“It changed nothing about our confidence. Everything that you, as journalists and fans, and we, as players, have is the same idea of what to do, what we want — God willing, to become World Cup champions. We want to make our mark in history. Knowing that we’re in this stadium, so close to the World Cup and with matchups like this, despite the loss, also gives us a certain peace of mind in knowing that we have a path. They’ve had much more time and preparation and, even with our difficulties, we felt we could have come away with the win. It’s good to know that we have a big margin for improvement and, if we stay on this path, with preparation and focused minds, we’ll get there with great humility and hopefully fulfill our dream,” he said.

Finally, Cunha was also asked why the Seleção’s main attacking players still have not managed to replicate their club performances. The player then dismissed pressure as the main factor and instead pointed to the lack of chemistry due to the short training time.

“Within all the expectations everyone places on us, we have our own too. We want to show everything we know and make everyone proud, but I believe there are many obstacles. Each one has a different club, different formations. Of course we’re disappointed when we don’t deliver what we want so badly, like losing a game to France. I don’t think it’s so much about coming to the national team and having a different weight, a different pressure,” he said.

“Being here is a huge privilege and coming here… to me, it’s the heaviest shirt in world football. It’s much more about adaptation. We arrive very excited to adapt, to understand and do what we’ve always wanted. But it’s very clear that the final goal is the World Cup, where we’ll have a longer period and more preparation, more chemistry. Within that, it’s about the little time we have to adapt and switch gears rather than pressure itself. Arrive, adapt, and try to deliver what we always want with little time,” Matheus Cunha concluded.

Brazil’s next match

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.