Luiz Felipe Scolari does not see Spain as an immediate threat at the 2014 World Cup, whilst he also explains an affinity for Cristiano Ronaldo over Lionel Messi.
The 64-year-old, who is charged with taking Brazil into the 2014 tournament as hosts, reflected this week on who he sees as the Selecao’s main rivals.
“Those who are already organised, Germany, Italy and because they are revitalised and for tradition, Argentina, who are playing very well,” listed Scolari in an interview with Folha de Sao Paulo.
“Who else? At this level they are all very good.
“Have I deliberately left out Spain? They have been playing together [for a while] and everything else, but we’ll see how they fare at the end of the qualifiers.
“The Netherlands play very well, Russia will be difficult. But those three, with Spain as a fourth, will be among the top eight.
“And Brazil as favourite? Not absolute favourite. We are at the level of the others. We do not have too much of a difference to the others.
“What is missing is a full definition of how to play. We have our quality.”
The Coach was asked, though, why Europe’s best players are currently not Brazilian, as has been the case over the previous decade with the likes of Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho.
“Today’s crop has changed. The stars who are now exported to Europe are centre-backs, full-backs, goalkeepers.
“It is a cycle. And with Argentina it is the opposite, they now have the best strikers in Europe.”
One of whom is Lionel Messi, who Scolari was asked to compare with Cristiano Ronaldo, the Real Madrid man he worked with when in charge of Portugal.
“Messi is fantastic but Cristiano is more fantastic.
“Which one would I naturalise if I could to play for Brazil? I cannot, I cannot, I’ve been criticised because I naturalised Deco and Pepe in Portugal. Imagine now.
“I like Ronaldo for a specific reason. What’s that? In Barcelona, the other stars do not seem bothered with their star, who is Messi.
“At Real Madrid, the impression I have is that the other stars feel uncomfortable with the star that is Cristiano.
“He does everything he does, equal to Messi, so for me it is Cristiano.”
