Beijing 2008: Brazil Are Serious About Football Gold

The Brazilian Olympic squad carried out a tactical-technical training session this Wednesday in Hanoi which started at 17:30 (7:30 Brasilia.)

They trained in 33 degrees (67% humidity) heat, a temperature similar to that the group expects to find in Beijing where Brazil plays Belgium on August 7 at 17:00 (6:00 Brasilia.)

The session was at the National Stadium Mai Dinh where Vietnam take on Brazil this Friday. The public were not allowed to watch as the Brazilian squad have been overrun by fans since they first got there and it would have been impossible to train. Police worked hard to restrain some 3000 people who tried hard to get in.

Dunga worked with the team on a reduced field putting emphasis on possession.

Concerned by the heat in China, Dunga stressed the importance of the ball doing the running.

The technical/tactical ideas were divided into three stages.

In the first part, initially in two touches and after that with freedom of passes, the teams occupied half of the field, with the other empty half. On the coach's whistle  the team who were with the ball attacked the defending adversary with the objective of maximising speed.

In the second part, using the entire field, the team with the ball had to score a goal but only when their last player had passed of the line of half-field. The exercised forced the team in possession to work on passes, displacement, movement and compacting the squad. The defenders worked on marking.

Finally, attacking plays were repeated rapidly using the flanks to get past adversary marking.

Dunga also demanded the players work on finishing at the end of the session.

All participated in this activity, repeating many times, in some situations, shots at  goalies Diego Alves and Renan, who took turns trying to defend.

After it was all over, the players returned to the Sheraton Hotel, where dinner was served.

This Thursday, the schedule for getting up will be free as training starts at 16:30 (6:30 Brasilia.)

The match against Vietnam at the National Stadium Mai Dinh, will be on Friday at 20:00 local time. (10:00 Brasilia.)