Dunga shake-up gives Turkey chance
Brazil take on Turkey in Istanbul in a highly anticipated clash this week, with new Selecao boss Dunga set to shake up his starting eleven.
After a promising but ultimately devastating World Cup at home in the summer, the Brazilian national team find themselves in a period of reinvention.
Plenty of the old guard have been removed, with Dunga keen to forget about the Germany debacle experienced by his predecessor Luiz Felipe Scolari.
As the Brazil boss is unable to choose home-based players due to the national championship clashing with these friendly fixtures it seems that changes will abound in Turkey’s second city.
Fatih Terim’s current reign as Turkish manager has begun promisingly according to a number of the players and the feeling is high that Brazil could find themselves on the end of a minor upset.
“Even if the result is not important, the football we play and the performance we put on are critical,” said Bursaspor winger Volkan Şen, who has only recently been called back to the team.
“It will be a wonderful encounter ahead of the European Championship qualifiers match against Kazakhstan. We want to see our shortcomings, errors and strengths and get a good result against Kazakhstan,” he added.
Terim will be hoping that he and his side can catch Brazil cold and with the energy available to him, that is a possibility.
With Galatasaray trio Umut Bulut, Burak Yilmaz and Hamit Altintop all itching to play against the Brazilians, it is this type of outfit that Dunga and his defence will see as a true test, after obvious problems earlier in the year. Terim can also call on the quality of Atletico Madrid talisman Arda Turan as he enjoys yet another fine season in Spain so far.
Dunga will be wary of such quality but the World Cup-winning midfielder will be expecting his team to have more than enough to deal with the Turkish threat.
Even with a new defence, of which Napoli goalkeeper Rafael Cabral looks set to stake his claim in Istanbul, the Brazil manager will be confident of dealing with the attacking menace of this exciting Turkish team as they search for World Cup redemption.
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