The Corinthians side that will feature in the Club World Cup in Tokyo has the ammunition to ambush European champions Chelsea if the two teams get through to Sunday’s final as expected.
The Brazilians won South America’s version of the Champions League at a relative canter in July, going unbeaten for 14 Libertadores Cup games and conceding just four goals.
Corinthians play a dour but effective European-style pressing game and their biggest plus is the club’s long-held mantra of putting teamwork and hard graft ahead of individual brilliance.
«It’s one of the real strengths of this team,» coach Tite told FIFA.com ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final against Egypt’s Al-Ahly. «If you have a group of players that only look out for themselves, that’s the first step towards failure.
«But playing as a team doesn’t mean that players won’t stand out. They understand that by all pulling together they’ll create a winning team that’ll give everyone a chance to shine.»
Chelsea’s expensive collection of international players meet Monterrey of Mexico in the other semi-final on Thursday.
The laconic Tite has strengthened his Corinthians squad since leading them to their first Libertadores title.
The coach lost Leandro Castan to AS Roma and Alex to Al-Gharafa of Qatar but made up for that by signing Peruvian Jose Paulo Guerrero from Hamburg SV, Jose Manuel Martinez from Argentines Velez Sarsfield and midfielder Guilherme from hometown rivals Portuguesa.
Young striker Romarinho has established himself as a regular while Paulinho and Ralf have been commanding enough in midfield to win regular berths with Brazil.
Goalkeeper Cassio and full back Fabio Santos have also earned callups to the national team.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald