Dunga suffers first defeat as Brazil lose 2-0 against Portugal

Written by Nicholas Savage , 08.02 23h43

A capacity crowd of 58,000 came to the Emirates stadium on a freezing cold evening to see Dunga's first defeat as Brazil lost 2-0 to Portugal in London.

With Alex, Robinho and Ronaldinho injured Dunga was forced into making several changes with Fred and Rafael Sobis entering the starting 11.

In the first half it was Brazil with the best chances, however both teams lacked the cutting edge needed to provide final ball. Elano and Kaka remained the biggest threats but the best chance fell to Rafael Sobis who missed a one against one with the Portuguese goal keeper Ricardo.

At half time Dunga started the changes Sobis for Adriano and Juan for Lusiao. Adriano added some pace to Brazils attack put for a very short period. 10 mins on Edmilson came off for Tinga and Alves came on for Maicon and 5 mins later Fred came off for Diego.

With the game heading for a draw Dungas changes appeared to affect the team and the 77th min the dead lock was broken. Quaresma crossed for Simao to hit home.

In the 89th minute Cavalho confirmed the victory and bragging rights by slotting home from 5 yards out.

It was Portugal’s second victory against their opponents in the past four years. The first came shortly after Luiz Felipe Scolari, their coach, had steered Brazil to the World Cup in 2002.

Cristiano Ronaldo was the surprise choice for Portuguese captain, at the request of Carlos Silva, the vice-president of the Portuguese football federation, who died at the weekend. “He said that I should give him the opportunity to be captain because he has had some difficulties with the public in England,” Scolari said. “I am not sure what we will do about it in the next game.”

Dunga will not be happy at how his team performed, registering almost no shots on target in the whole second half.

When asked about the positives he could take from the game Dunga replied "We have to learn from it. We are starting to prepare for the World Cup. This showed us we have much left to learn. That is football.".

Teams

Brazil (4-4-2): Helton — Maicon (sub: D Alves, 63min), Lúcio (sub: Luisão, 46), Juan, Gilberto — Elano, Gilberto Silva, Edmilson (sub: Tinga, 63), Kaká — Fred (sub: Diego, 68), R Sobis (sub: Adriano, 46). Substitutes not used: J César, A Correia, D Cearense. Booked: Edmilson.

Portugal (4-3-3): Ricardo — Miguel, R Carvalho, J Andrade, Caneira (sub: P Ferreira, 46) — Tiago (sub: J Moutinho, 68), Petit, Deco (sub: H Viana, 61) — C Ronaldo (sub: Simão, 63), H Postiga (sub: N Gomes, 75), R Quaresma. Substitutes not used: Quim, F Meira, R Meireles, M da Costa. Booked: Tiago. Referee: M Atkinson.