LONDON, ENGLAND (BDCi) — While other team stress about World Cup qualifying, Brazil and Russia will exchange in a friendly exhibition in England where two former Chelsea managers return on Monday night.
Brazil of course are already in the World Cup since they are the hosts while Russia only had one qualifier on the schedule during this break.
This remains an important match for Brazil as they prepare for a must win tournament by their fans next summer. After last week’s collapse against Italy where they surrendered a two-goal lead, there is little doubt Luiz Felipe Scolari will be looking for a stronger performance from his team.
The only changes Scolari will make from the Italy draw will be in the defense where the duo of Thiago Silva and Marcelo will take over from Dante and Felipe Luis.
Russia has still not played their one qualifier against Northern Ireland after two postponements due to snowfall and freezing conditions in Belfast. At this point, Russia will just be happy to play after the past few days.
Fabio Capello will be without captain Igor Denisov,who picked up an illness, so Roman Shirokov is expected to captain the team. Russia has looked much better under Capello’s reign and are undefeated under their new boss having not lost since their 2012 Euro exit against Greece.
Brazil has never lost to Russia, going back to the days of the Soviet Union, so a win for Capello even in a friendly would be a big deal.
Source: sbnation.com