World Cup 2006 Top 10 Moments

3) The Demise of Brazil
Brazil was touted as overwhelming favourites to win the World Cup before the start of the tournament. Who wouldn't? There's the World Player of the year Ronaldinho, there's the "extraterrestrial" Ronaldo, there's the talented Kaka, there's the strong striker Adriano, there's the "new Pele" Robinho, there's the evergreen Cafu, there's the supposedly best left back in the world Roberto Carlos. Brazil, with their overflowing talent, was supposed to just turn out and claim the trophy. They were supposed to be invincible, unbeatable. However, we all knew by now that things did not turn out that way. Ronaldinho, possibly due to his exertions for Barcelona in the La Liga and the Champion's League, was terribly off-form throughout the tournament and ended his campaign without scoring a single goal. Ronaldo proved that being fat could not make u a good striker as despite his 3 goals in the tournament, he struggled against the defences of Australia and Croatia, not to mention France. Kaka showed that he still need to gain more experience and more importantly, how to impose himself in games. Adriano followed the wrong example in Ronaldo by trying hard to expend his waistline. The price? His pace dimished and his off the ball movement non-existent. Robinho failed to live up to his promise as the "new Pele" just like so many others before. Cafu showed that age was catching up with him as his non-stop overlapping runs up and down the flanks were not on showing in Germany. Roberto carlos ended his international career with an embrassing scene of him panting at the edge of the penalty box, allowing Thierry Henry the freedom to tap home the goal which knocked out the Brazilians. Brazil's downfall could be contributed to a few factors. First, too many cooks spoil the soup. Blessed with so much talent, the coach failed to harness and maximise these talents in his hand. There was no focus in their attacks and no leader on the pitch such as germany's Ballack or France's Zidane. Also, the politics ensured that players were picked on reputations rather than form as in the case of Ronaldo and Carlos. The overconfidence of the brazilians, fed even more by the media who were eager to just hand them the trophy, also proved to be their downfall. They thought they would be able to switch their gears according to their opponents but found out, at the cost of their elimination, that they could not do that. A soccer team which was essentially a commercial asset of the Brazilian government and multinational companies and devoid of spirits and humility, maybe it wasn't such a surprise that brazil failed to live up to its pre-tournament hype after all.