The world’s number one team Brazil will not be under-estimating Australia as they bid to rebound from their Superclasico loss to Argentina, officials said Sunday.
The five-time World Cup champions are eager to bounce back from their 1-0 loss to their great South American rivals in Tuesday’s friendly against the Confederations Cup-bound Socceroos in Melbourne.
A goal from Sevilla defender Gabriel Mercado just before half-time meant a morale-boosting victory for Argentina under their new manager Jorge Sampaoli and was Brazil’s first loss in manager Tite’s year-long tenure.
The Brazilians, who will be forced to replace injured Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus, are taking no chances and have scouted the 48th-ranked Australians ahead of their Melbourne game.
Brazil have already qualified for next year’s World Cup finals in Russia while Australia kept alive their automatic qualifying hopes with a 3-2 win over the 53rd-ranked Saudi Arabia in Adelaide on Thursday.
“We sent someone to watch the game,” Brazil team coordinator Edu Gaspar spoke about Australia’s World Cup qualifier victory, on Sunday.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!