After their irmãos lost to Ghana in the painful U-20 World Cup final last week, Lucho Nizzo’s kids are raring to go and win the U-17 World Cup in Nigeria, which kicks off tomorrow! We could probably call them fetos (fetuses) for now, but Coutinho doesn’t look like one, so we’d best find another name.
Anyway, guess who’s coming to help these meninos? Santos wanderkid.. Neymar!
“There’s no doubt the experience we’ve gained with our clubs has been important and has helped us a lot,” he said. “What we have to do now, though, is put all that into practice and help A Seleção win the title back.”
“The players watched almost all of the U-20 team’s matches and I’m sure they realised that in tournaments like that it’s not always the best team that wins,” added coach Nizzo, whose team experienced earthquakes at the last U-17 tournament. “It was a shame Brazil lost (the U-20) but I hope my players were able to take some positive conclusions from it, especially the way that little details can make all the difference in the group phases of competitions like this.”
For old times sake, here’s a video of the 1997 U-17 squad. Enjoy The Dinho’s high-pitched celebratory message!
Promising U-17 winger, Dodo (not affiliated to the extinct bird in anyway, por favor) has caught the eye of the hawks at ForeignChester United. Is it us or have their scouts been going to Brazil a lot lately?
It now appears that a deal is in place for young Dodo to play for United when he turns 18 next year after the club bought him over from Corinthians for €6 million.
The player has traveled to England, where he will be training for two weeks with the club. This arrangement will be done every three months for him to adapt to the douchebags at ForeignChester United. When he goes back to Brazil, he will continue playing for the Corinthians youth divisions.
And we all know that the Da Silva twins have prepared a feast in honour of Dodo’s arrival!
Photos : Courtesy of R.Ribeiro
The U-17 South American Champions came home last night and were greeted by their families. As for our fav menino, Philipe Coutinho, he made out with his namorada, Ainê (in colourful dress) right in the middle of the airport! Come on, she couldn’t help it so please give her a break. We’d do the same!
On the other hand, Gérson - who is smiling at you – went home alone. What? Why wasn’t he mobbed by the fangirls yet? Amigas of ours have expressed interest!
The U-17 meninos will take on Argentina later tonight… and the tension is mounting! Even coach Lucho Nizza had to take the boys for an innocent night out (yes futbolitas, please control yourselves) to calm their nerves.
“I took the kids to the circus here in the city to calm the environment and alleviate the tension. This competition is very complicated as they’ve gone a week without playing any games. We’re working hard to control the anxiety,” he said.
What?! The circus? Why couldn’t Lucho take them all to see the new Star Trek movie? Spock and his ridiculous ears alone are capable of a hat-trick against Argentina anyway.
“There’s such a natural rivalry. After all, (the boys) grew up watching games between Brazil and Argentina and are obviously in love with football. Furthermore, we faced some problems with the Argentinean selection earlier this week. They wanted us to leave the training field so that they could train. Our boys didn’t like it and they were indignant,” added the coach.
What’s with the bitchfest? You know the Argentinean boys are all mini Fernando Gagos, waiting to flick their hair and pose. Aw, ferosh!
Brazil’s u-17 meninos are slated to meet powerhouses Argentina on May 9th for the finals of the u-17 South American Championships. Fresh from a 3-0 victory over Bolivia last Wednesday, the boys are now ensured of qualification for the U-17 World Cup in Nigeria.
Coach Lucho Nizzo says he’s hoping to calm all the kids down before the game. Yes, everyone knows they’ll be under enormous pressure. Brazil-Argentina is a match everyone including your neighbour’s cat will be watching!
“The first objective has been achieved, which is qualification for the World Cup. I’ve been speaking to the the kids and we’re working on recovering some players who are in the medical department. We’re training with (a lot of) commitment for the finals. Facing Argentina (gives us an) extra responsibility to win this title. The rivalry is great and we will work on the psychological aspect,” he said.
Ah, so it appears the U-17 meninos in Chile now are coping well without Neymar. Well, at least that’s what their coach, Lucho Nizza (in the photo with Mr Braces himself above) said.
“Many great players are missing but we have to live with the reality. We’re playing in this tournament without Neymar. We are playing with a group of players who’re very good. It’s important and we must have patience. We hoped to get Neymar for a long time, but he was not released,” said Nizza.
On Brazil’s current performance at the Sub17, he said : “I’ll try to keep the balance in the team and avoid getting too relaxed. The boys who’re between 15 and 17 years old will feel some self-confidence after the victories.”
EARTHQUAKES
Of course it hasn’t been a smooth ride for the boys. Last Thursday, they were woken up in the middle of the night by an “earthquake” and the ground shaking beneath them.
Said Nizza : “I was in my room and felt the ground shaking. I asked myself, ‘Gee, do I have labyrinthitis or something?” I left the hall and everyone was scared that the building was shaking. There wasn’t a reason to be scared – after all you should keep calm when you’re on the 19th floor!”
Time for a long-overdue update on the selecção bebê. Last Saturday, they defeated Paraguay 4 goals to 0. And meninos repeated that goal rout against Peru in a 3-0 victory last night. Goals came courtesy of Gerson, Phillipe Coutinho and Wellington.
Brazil found it difficult to break the opposing defence from the first minute and could not find creativity in midfield. In the early minutes of the game, the Peruvians seemed to be the ones who looked threatening until their defender, Cetenho, ruined the party and got sent off for an ugly challenge on Wellington.
With one man down, Brazil took advantage of the situation and started to increase their pace. The goals came in the form of a header, penalty and an impressive mid-range shot that sunk nicely into the left corner of the net.
Brazil will face Colombia on Thursday.
1. Brazil has won the U-17 South American Championships 8 times since it’s inauguration in 1985. Argentina have only won it twice. Colombia and Bolivia also won it in 1993 and 1986 respectively.
2. The Top Four Teams at the end of the tournament automatically qualify for the U-17 Fifa World Cup to take place later this year.
3. 2007’s Best Player of the Tournament was Peru’s Reimond Manco. 2005’s was Brazil’s Kerlon, who now plays for Chievo in Italy.
4. Fabio da Silva, Rafael da Silva and Diego Ribas have all played at the U-17 level for Brazil.
5. The tournament is not a significant springboard (as compared to the u20 Championships) when it comes to unearthing talents. Typically, players who play at the U17 level end up competing with technically better players for the senior youth team.
Here’s a video of wonderkid, Neymar, trying his new Nike boots. Tipo is being courted by the likes of AC Milan, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United. Scouts from everywhere have also been sent to keep an eye on this kid dubbed the new Pele (move over Robinho!) Everyone wants his signature, but we think Chelsea and City should forget about it!
We’re still trying to find out why Neymar didn’t join the other meninos in Chile for the U-17 Championships (which kicks off tomorrow by the way) It would’ve been a perfect opportunity for him to prove himself at national level… unless of course, he isn’t expecting a first team call up? Now now.
Unfortunately, Santos’ wonderkid Neymar has not been included in the squad that will play in the U17 Championships. According to our amigos, Neymar was not summoned despite previous reports that he was called up. He was not officially released by Santos either and is still with the club.
The official squad is below the cut and the meninos are mostly from Internacional, Santos, Vasco and Sao Paulo. The tournament starts this weekend.
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The Brazilian U-17 team are preparing hard for the South American Championships that kick off this Friday. As we told you earlier, it will be staged in a similar format as the U20 Championships.
The countries taking part in the tournament are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. The young selecao will play Paraguay on Saturday while Argentina take on Venezuela on Sunday.
Don’t forget to follow them here at Futbolita!
The football museum in Luque was opened in January but where are the stuff?! Couldn’t they at least come up with a mock trophy?
Anyway, The U-17 South American Championships are slated to take place next month between 17 April and 8 May. It’s a lot like the U-20 South American Championships which ensures automatic placements for the top four teams. For the U-17 South American winners, they automatically qualify for October’s U-17 championships in Nigeria.
The Brazil kids will face Paraguay, Bolivia, Colombia and Peru in Group A of the tournament. Group B is comprised of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Ecuador and Venezuela.
Well, we smell another one of those classic Brazil-Argentina encounters but teams like Uruguay should not be underestimated!
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