Brazil continue their preparations for the 2019 Copa America on home soil with a friendly against Qatar at the Mane Garrincha Stadium in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The Selecao have just two more matches to go before kicking off the tournament against Bolivia next week, starting with this visit from the 2022 World Cup hosts.
Brazil
© Reuters
Brazil head into the Copa America as the favourites, despite their lack of impact at major tournaments in recent times.
The South American giants have not progressed beyond the quarter-finals of the World Cup since 2002 and have fallen before the semis in their last three Copa participations, including an embarrassing group-stage exit last time around.
A year on from their World Cup exit at the hands of Belgium, though, hope has been restored and Tite's men have been steadily building momentum to take into the tournament on home soil.
Brazil have won seven and drawn one of their eight matches since Russia 2018. A shock 1-1 draw with Panama aside in March, the Selecao have a perfect record over the last 11 months, most recently beating Czech Republic 3-1 in Prague two months ago.
Tite used those recent friendlies as a chance to experiment with his side, explaining the failure to overcome Panama in Porto. These final two friendlies before the real business gets underway will be a similar story, though Tite needs to find a settled XI and formation in time for the Group A opener against Bolivia in a week-and-a-half's time.
Plenty of focus will be on Neymar in Brasilia on Thursday as he was recently stripped of the captaincy by Tite and he has had to deal with plenty of off-field drama, including rape allegations made against him that he sternly denies.
Liverpool pair Roberto Firmino and Alisson Becker will be absent for this first friendly due to their participation in the Champions League final last weekend, but both men should be used in the match against Honduras on Sunday.
Brazil have lost just one of their last 24 matches over the last two years, yet despite that questions still remain over this group's ability to achieve success on the big stage after falling short in Russia.
The only way to answer their critics will be to go all the way on home soil this summer. Tite has just a week to get his side ready for what will be a big challenge.
Recent form (all competitions): WWWWDW
Qatar
© Reuters
If Brazil are focused on the short term, with Copa America success their only target right now, then Qatar are looking more at the long term.
The level of football in the Middle Eastern state has improved in the decade since they were controversially handed the 2022 World Cup, highlighted by their Asian Cup triumph earlier this year.
Qatar scored 10 goals and conceded none in seeing off Lebanon, North Korea and Saudi Arabia in the group stage, before maintaining their impressive run of shutouts in the knockout rounds.
After beating Iran and South Korea in the last 16 and quarter-finals respectively, Felix Sanchez's charges thumped hosts United Arab Emirates 4-0 in the semis and beat a much-fancied Japan side 3-1 in the final.
That win over Japan, secured thanks to goals from Almoez Ali, Abdelaziz Hatim and Akram Afif, provided Qatar with the most famous victory in their history.
Their reward is an invite to the Copa America, where they will face Paraguay, Colombia and Argentina in a tough group.
Politics often follows the Qatari national side around, of course, and the decision to award the mega-rich state the World Cup will continue to be scrutinised until the tournament eventually comes around a little over three years from now.
On the field, though, there is hope for a bright future. Qatar have won seven matches in a row this calendar year, culminating in their victory over Japan, and they will now have a major upset in their sights when they take on global giants Brazil.
Advancing through their tough Copa group will be a massive ask, but Sanchez's men have proved already this year that they should not be written off entirely.
Recent form (all competitions): WWWWWW
Team News
© Reuters
Sanchez has said that he is using the Copa America as preparation for the next World Cup. A number of young players will get a chance to impress in South America, starting with this friendly against Brazil.
Ali, Afif and Bassem al-Rawi are all in contention to start at the 72,000-capacity Mane Garrincha Stadium, with the former finishing top of the Asian Cup scoring charts thanks to his nine goals.
Qatar used a three-man defence against Japan in their most recent outing and that may again be the case in the early hours of Thursday morning.
As for the hosts, Tite has a choice of two formations to go with. The experienced coach can either use a 4-1-4-1 or a 4-2-3-1, though the players selected will largely remain the same.
Gabriel Jesus is the favourite to lead the line, while Neymar and Richarlison look likely to start either side of the Manchester City striker. Barcelona ace Philippe Coutinho should also be used in midfield alongside Casemiro and Arthur.
This match will give Dani Alves his first chance to lead out the Selecao since being handed the captaincy. The veteran full-back will win his 108th cap for his national side.
Brazil possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Alves, Marquinhos, Miranda, Filipe Luis; Casemiro; Richarlison, Arthur, Coutinho, Neymar; Jesus
Qatar possible starting lineup:
Al Sheeb; Al Rawi, Khoukhi, Salman; Miguel, Al Haydos, Madibo, Hatim, Hassan; Afif, Ali
Head To Head
This has been labelled the biggest friendly in Qatar's history. They have only met Brazil on one previous occasion, losing 6-1 in 1979.
Qatar head into the match sitting 55th in the latest FIFA rankings, compared to third for their opponents.
The last time the Middle Eastern side faced a team from South America was eight months ago when picking up a surprise 3-2 win over Ecuador in Doha.
We say: Brazil 3-0 Qatar
Two wins from two from this week's friendlies will be the target for Tite to keep the momentum going into the Copa America finals. Qatar may have won all seven of their matches at the Asian Cup, scoring 19 goals and conceding just one, but this is a different challenge entirely and we cannot see past a comprehensive home win.
