Brian Homewood
Brazil fullback Roberto Carlos has effectively dismissed his team's opening World Cup opponents Turkey, saying the four times world champions only need to play at 40 per cent of their capabilities to beat them.
The Real Madrid player said he agreed with coach Luiz Felipe Scolari who has already claimed that Brazil can progress from group C -- which also includes Costa Rica and China -- even if they are not at their best.
"I don't want to put down our opponents, but I think if we can play to 40 per cent of our capabilities, then we have an excellent chance of winning the first match," said the fullback, who has become almost as well known for his brash predictions as for his booming left-foot shot.
Roberto Carlos also denied that Brazil, who in the last two years have lost to opponents such as Australia, Ecuador, Chile, Paraguay, Honduras and Bolivia, were in decline.
Curiously, he blamed the format of the competition for Brazil's poor performance in the World Cup qualifiers.
"Brazil are still the team all the others want to beat," he said. "The players of Turkey, Costa Rica and China are going to play the game of their lives when they face us because they want to beat Brazil.
"That proves that we are still held in high esteem."
Asked to explain why Brazil lost six of their 18 games as they scraped through the South American qualifying tournament, he said: "It's because we had one group of 10 teams, which meant playing 18 games, instead of two groups of five, which meant playing ten."
He is less confident, however, when asked if he will score during the World Cup.
"I'm not promising goals to anybody. I promise good performances, I promise a lot of work, and above all, determination," said the player who has often been accused of saving his best for his Spanish club.
TWO CHANGES
Brazil face Malaysia, where they have been training all week, on Saturday evening before flying to South Korea the following day. Their opener against Turkey is on June 3.
Scolari is expected to make two changes to the team which started Brazil's previous friendly against Portugal in April.
Kleberson, who plays for Brazilian champions Atletico Parananese, is likely to replace Gilberto Silva in midfield with Edmilson coming into the three-man defence instead of Anderson Polga.
This means that, as expected, Rivaldo will return to action after missing the end of the season with Barcelona due to a troublesome right knee.
Scolari says that the same side has a good chance of starting against Turkey.
An 80,000 crowd is expected to watch one of the most prestigious matches in Malaysia's history but Brazil captain Emerson has warned them not to expect a footballing feast.
"There's not going to be any show, we have our main concern which is the match against Turkey," said the dour AS Roma midfielder.
"For us, this is just another preparation, another chance to play together, perfect a few things, correct a few mistakes.
"It's always our responsibility when we wear the Brazil shirt to win, we always have to win."
