The Selecao are serious about ending their 24-year World Cup title drought.
Brazil have set up base camp at the New York Red Bulls’ new state-of-the-art training facility in Morristown, N.J., and are staying nearby at The Ridge hotel. Security at the site was one of the biggest selling points for the national team.
The Ridge is a private property, and during the World Cup the Brazilian Football Confederation will control who can enter and leave the hotel. It’s part of a strict, internal “code of conduct” Brazil players must abide by, first reported by the Brazilian newspaper O Globo.
Family members of the players will stay in a different hotel, according to the report, and most activities going forward will be closed to the public. There are even limits regarding their use of social media, though it was unclear whether it was an outright prohibition.
The team landed in the United States on Tuesday and held its first training in New Jersey on Wednesday.
NEYMAR OUT FOR TUNE-UP, BUT STILL IN SQUAD
Neymar will not travel with the team to Cleveland for their final World Cup tune-up Saturday against Egypt, it was announced Thursday.
Brazil’s all-time leading goal-scorer has been sidelined since mid-May with a Grade 2 calf injury, but that didn’t stop manager Carlo Ancelotti from naming him to the 26-man World Cup squad.
As he prepares for his fourth World Cup, Neymar is receiving around-the-clock treatment in New Jersey, with time running short before Brazil’s opening match against Morocco on June 12.
Global soccer reporter Fabrizio Romano reported Wednesday that not only wil Neymar be on the Brazil squad, he also will keep the historic No. 10 shirt, worn by the likes of Pele and Ronaldinho. Vinicius Junior, Brazil’s best young attacker, has donned the No. 10 in international play when the 34-year-old Neymar wasn’t on the squad.
“Vinicius Junior was asked about the possibility to take the No. 10, maybe for this World Cup,” Romano reported. “The answer was saying it all about the relationship in the dressing room between Neymar and his teammates. (Vinicius) said, ‘No chance. The No. 10 is for Neymar Jr.'”
MARQUINHOS ‘VERY CONFIDENT’ IN MAJOR MOMENT
Should Brazil lift the trophy, Marquinhos would make history as just the second player in history to win the UEFA Champions League title and the World Cup in the same year, joining Franz Beckenbauer of Germany (1974).
Marquinhos was with his Paris Saint-Germain teammates last week in Budapest when Ancelotti named him Brazil’s captain for the tournament. PSG went on to defeat Arsenal on penalties to claim their second straight UCL title.
The 32-year-old defender told reporters Wednesday that he sees his latest opportunity as though it will be his last.
“I arrive very happy, very happy. Very confident with the moment I’m living personally,” Marquinhos said, per a translation from Portuguese. “… There’s an expectation of another World Cup, of another opportunity, right? And I (see) this moment more and more as if it were my last game, my last World Cup and my last opportunity to be winning titles, to be winning games, to be winning more trophies in my career.
“Marquinhos in 2022 is really a different Marquinhos from today.”
The last time World Cup matches were played in the United States in 1994, Brazil snapped a 24-year title drought. Marquinhos and his peers are hoping for a repeat of that outcome as Brazil haven’t advanced past the quarterfinals since winning the 2002 World Cup.
–Field Level Media
