Tite rejects 'favourites' tag

The round of 16 match between Mexico and Brazil yesterday was a really entertaining one but more importantly, Mexico managed to stretch the five-time champions. However, the most impressive thing for the Selecaos was that they withstood some intense pressure to win the game 2-0 and make the quarterfinals.

Brazil coach Tite however rejected the favourites' tag.

“The level we have reached is the quarterfinal. The team have to consolidate that and I'm not going to stick to any kind of favouritism. The same team we beat tonight beat Germany. The game against Sweden they were very good until they conceded. Russia was playing very well yesterday against Spain. So, everything is open,” the Professor told reporters after the game last night.

Tite seemed to be more pleased with Brazil's tenacity in  withstanding the pressure, terming it 'a great match with a number of finishes and opportunities created'.

He also spoke of tactics and the ploy of switching to a 4-4-2 formation, which allowed more freedom to Neymar and Coutinho in a fast and counter-attacking game. He also praised the way Willian performed after the break, where the Chelsea winger was undoubtedly the best player.

“He suffered tactically in the first half. He had to work with Fagner in defending, he did a lot of work. In the second half he was able to technically shine. There was a different positioning, he played in the second half and you [viewers] observed it”, said the Brazil coach.

Brazil's tactic of switching to a different formation is something that worked out well for this, the second successive game.

Although Gabriel Jesus became the only forward not to have scored a single goal while sporting the famous number 9 shirt in the first four games of this World Cup, Tite described him as a 'truck of a player', and not just because he did a truckload of work while backtracking down the left-flank to support Filipe Lewis on the break. It was logical for him to be substituted when Brazil introduced Firmino in the last six minutes of the game but not an adequate reward for his hard work.

Understandably, Tite was confronted with questions about Neymar's play-acting during the game.

“I'm going to tell you something. Neymar went three-and-a-half months without playing a match at the top level. This is a lot. A top-notch athlete will need four or five games to recover. In the previous match he played very well and he repeated the standard that he had played before given his quality and his excellence,” the Brazil coach said.