REACTION TO SCOLARI'S BRAZILIAN WORLD CUP SQUAD

D. Ray Morton, 7th May 2014.

"Big Phil" has thought long and hard about his squad selection and the verdict is in

World Cup hosts and bookmakers' favourites Brazil named their squad for next month's finals today. Luiz Felipe Scolari has opted mainly for players who were involved in last summer's Confederations Cup triumph where they ran out 3-0 winners in the final against World Cup defending champions Spain. Here is the squad list in full:

Goalkeepers

Julio Cesar (Toronto FC), Jefferson (Botafogo), Victor (Gremio).

Defenders

Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Maicon (Roma), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Maxwell (Paris St. Germain), David Luiz (Chelsea), Thiago Silva (Paris St. Germain), Dante (Bayern Munich), Henrique (Napoli).

Thiago Silva, captain and key centre back for the Brazilians

Midfielders

Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg), Paulinho (Tottenham), Ramires (Chelsea), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Oscar (Chelsea), Willian (Chelsea), Hernanes (Inter Milan), Bernard (Shaktar Donetsk).

Fernandinho's move to Manchester City has done wonders for his international selection prospects
 

Attackers

Fred (Fluminense), Neymar (Barcelona), Hulk (Zenit St. Petersburg), Jo (Atletico Miniero).

There are arguably two surprises in their defensive selection. Very few would have expected Napoli's Henrique to feature but Scolari has worked with him at Palmeiras in the past and trusts his level of ability. Maicon's inclusion is another eyebrow-raiser considering he left Manchester City last season deemed past his peak and surplus to requirements.

Can Maicon still cut it the highest level? Scolari seems to think so

There are some notable exclusions at the back. Paris St. Germain duo Alex and Marquinhos have been snubbed. The former has enjoyed a great season in France and has formed a fine defensive partnership with national captain Thiago Silva. Scolari might have been wise in selecting him ahead of Dante whose form with Bayern Munich has really declined over the past couple of months. Also, Atletico Madrid's Miranda and Roma's Leandro Castan have been overlooked despite having outstanding campaigns at club level.

What more could Miranda have possibly done this season to be selected?

The midfield appears to have something of a "premface" bias towards it with five English-based players in the eight midfielders selected. Willian and Fernandinho find themselves there when it would have been unthinkable for them to be selected when they played at Anzhi Makhachkala and Shaktar Donetsk respectively. Playing in the Premier League does wonders for your chances of international selection (unless you're Spanish), not even so much in improving one's standard but to actually get noticed.

Joining Scolari's old club is a very good way to get noticed for the national team as Willian has found out

One eastern European-based player who is going is young Bernard, however. Another Shaktar recruit, the tricky playmaker has been brought along as, perhaps, an impact sub. The 21 year-old should consider himself very fortunate to have been picked ahead of "the two Lucases", Leiva of Liverpool and Moura of PSG. AC Milan's Kaka and Liverpool's Coutinho have also been left out in the cold.

Brazil's attack will rely on the qualities of Neymar with Fred and Hulk likely to start alongside him

The forward selection is probably about as expected with Scolari not bothering to opt for  Ronaldinho, Pato or Robinho who would have only made the seleção on past reputation alone. Granted, Ronaldinho has been awarded the South American player of the year (S.A.-based players only) but perhaps Scolari feels that his 34 year-old legs would not cut it at what will be a gruelling tournament which will require stamina the former Balon d'Or winner no longer has.

CHELSEA HUMBLED IN PARIS AMIDST GAZE OF THE "PREMFACE" BRIGADE

CHELSEA HUMBLED IN PARIS AMIDST GAZE OF THE "PREMFACE" BRIGADE

D. Ray Morton, 3rd April 2014.

Substitute Javier Pastore reels away in celebration after making it 3-1 in late injury time

José Mourinho and Chelsea were dealt a tough night in Paris last evening thanks to goals from Ezequiel Lavezzi, Javier Pastore and an own goal from David Luiz to cancel out Eden Hazard's penalty for the visitors.

It was a game that lulled at times but this suited Paris St. Germain as a tired-looking Chelsea were not able to play at full intensity. Nemanja Matić was cup-tied after his involvement with Benfica earlier on in this Champions League season, and his calming defensive midfield presence was sorely missed.

The Parisians stunned Mourinho's side early on when Lavezzi was able to pounce on a loose ball in the penalty area and volleyed home beautifully with his left foot. Zlatan Ibrahimović had received all the attention before kick-off but it was his supporting cast of Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani that stole the spotlight on this occasion. The wide attacking duo tormented Chelsea not only with their offensive movement but also by covering back and preventing the visitors from exploiting the flanks.

Ramires diligently covered ground in midfield, pressing Thiago Motta and Marco Verratti with regularity but picked up a yellow card in process which will see him out of the second leg in London next week. PSG have a worry of their own in that Ibrahimović was hauled off with what looked like a hamstring injury. Such strains don't heal that rapidly and there's a good chance he'll miss next week's encounter also. Such as the strength of their squad however, they should be able to cope. Brazilian starlet Lucas Moura came on during the second half and troubled Chelsea with his elusive dribbling skills.

Chelsea's equaliser was somewhat fortuitous. Oscar went down in the penalty area under an awkward challenge from compatriot Thiago Silva. Such was the centre half's positioning that the referee cannot be blamed for awarding the spot-kick although replays seemed to indicate that Silva had at least gotten a bit of the ball. Hazard buried the penalty and that was Chelsea's last shot on target for the evening. After only 28 minutes.

Chelsea had opted for a "strikerless" formation with André Schürrle up front on his own, a tactic only used twice this season, once against Bayern Munich in the European Super Cup and again against Manchester United early on in the campaign where a 0-0 result seemed solid at the time. Here, it worked to an extent. With Schürrle dropping into the midfield, Motta and Verratti found themselves pressured more often than they would in an average Ligue 1 match. It was Mourinho's decision to replace the German with Fernando Torres in the second half where things began to unravel.

Sky Sports' panel came up with the ludicrous conclusion that Chelsea were in complete control by half-time. Perhaps they were, if control means aimlessly pressing to the point of exhaustion and playing into the hands of a highly technical home side with many individuals capable of coming up with a match-winning moment of flair. The lead goal didn't require any flair, however. The ticking defensive time bomb that is David Luiz couldn't get the ball out of his feet from Lavezzi's whipped free-kick and ended up putting it in his own net. It became a calamitous night for Luiz after being one of Chelsea's better players in the first half.

The visitors looked tired but seemed content to take a 2-1 defeat back home. That was until substitute Javier Pastore came up with a bit of magic late on in injury time. Picking the ball up on the right flank, he managed to slip into the Chelsea penalty area near the by-line, skimmed Frank Lampard and smashed home past Petr Čech from a narrow angle. That little bit of magic made it 3-1 and makes next week's proposition much harder for an infuriated Mourinho.

Mourinho described PSG's third goal as "ridiculous"

He dubbed the third goal as "ridiculous" and didn't write off their second leg prospects but described it as "a difficult job, not impossible". Clearly dissatisfied at Fernando Torres' contribution he thought the substitution would give them more depth: "a bit more". The Spanish club record signing is clearly in the doghouse and there's very little chance he'll remain in Mourinho's first-team squad next season.

The Sky trio of Jamie Redknapp, Jamie Carragher and Glenn Hoddle seemed perplexed at what they had just seen. In unison, thinking Chelsea were "in control" at half-time, they didn't offer any real explanation as to how Chelsea had just been outclassed. Hoddle even went as far as suggesting that PSG were weak at the back despite having Brazil's captain and arguably the world's best defender in Thiago Silva. Classic "premface" opinion again on display.

The second leg should remain a decent spectacle and Chelsea are not necessarily out. Lavezzi and Cavani will remember from their time at Napoli that Chelsea are capable of overturning a 3-1 first leg defeat but considering PSG's overall quality, it's a much bigger ask this time.