Brazil Vs Serie A

An eventual Scudetto play-off between Milan and Juventus could be affected by call-ups to the Brazil squad.

Should the two teams, who also face each other on Sunday, finish the season level on points then they will meet on June 14 and 18 to see who will be crowned League champions.

However, there is a real risk that Juve’s Emerson and the Milan trio of Dida, Kaka and Cafu could all be away on international duty.

Brazil have two World Cup qualifiers on June 4 and 8 before they kick-off their Confederations’ Cup campaign against Greece on June 16.

Although the tournament is only a ‘minor’ affair, the Brazilian Football Federation have maintained they will call up their big name players.

"This is a massive problem," commented League President and Milan chief Adriano Galliani.

"Brazil have the right to name their best individuals for that tournament. But let us not try to fix anything before it is broken. Hopefully we won’t need a Spareggio."

However, Inter and Roma are also unhappy with the summer event as they could be without Adriano and Mancini respectively for the Coppa Italia Final – should they get there.

Those two Italian Cup matches are set for June 12 and 15, with the Nerazzurri particularly keen for Adriano to not be selected.

"I’ll speak with the Brazilian Federation," recently stated President Giacinto Facchetti. "We need to find a solution that suits us, them and the player."

Boss Roberto Mancini is also concerned about the South American’s physical condition after he spent last summer on international duty as well.

"The player evidently needs a break," said Mancio. "We’ll ask that he is not selected for the Confederations’ Cup. I hope that Adriano asks the same thing from his Coach."
-----------------------------------------------------------

This problem has surfaced time and time again and something needs to be done about it. Brazil are fully entitled to call up their best squad when they play but I'm beginning to wonder about whether they take the club obligations of their players seriously. It is after all the club not the national team that employs these players. I remember the Fifa president said that Brazils World Cup qualifying campaign would have to change as they play too many games yet I've heard nothing about this since it was mentioned. I do actually think though in this case Serie A is equally to blame, I know it was a legal problem that forced the league to increase by two teams but I think plans should be made over summer to have the 2006/2007 season back to and 18 league top division. If we get to the CL final we will be in a horrible situation of playing it midweek in between two crucial league games whilst our opponents have been relaxing and preparing for over a week. Do the Italian football association not want or not expect Italian teams to be in europe at this stage? Had this been a 34 game season any play-offs could have been decided in the weeks leading up to the Champions League final as we would have been finished the league by now.

oh man, I hate this debate. To be honest, this gives all the reason to make sure we win the scudetto during the season

Reasonable concerns meazza, however I beg to differ on a few points:

The expansion of the Serie A to 20 teams I think is in tandem with UEFA directives, and puts us on par with the other European leagues, all of whom have 20 teams in their respective top flights.

Reducing the league to 18 teams is a soloution frought with too many issues, such as who would be relegated, and promoted being the foremost of those. Clubs will already be planning a fire-sale of talent (those being relegated) while the promotion candidates will be looking to aquire players.

I agree that CONMEBOL needs to revise its qualification marathon, and I think this is much easier said than done, though in my estimation, using the Copa America as a forum for eliminating some of the teams, ie the best 6 finishers in that tournament could be the teams that fight for a WC berth...or some such arrangement that sees the best finishers of that tourney comepete among themselves for the available WC spots.

I also agree that the clubs pay the players, not the national associations, but, national representation still features in a major way for professionals, not the least of which, in regards to the EPL, the # of caps a player has in a year determines eligibility for a work permit! Go figure...and because they play this role, their wishes need to be respected, though obviously not over and above the player´s employers.

All in all, a sticky situation, over which Juve will be gloating should the unthinkable playoff situation arise, as we will suffer much more than Juve should our Brazilians be forced into the useless Confed Cup...what a waste of time this competition is!!! Whats the point of it anyway? Sheesh, as if players, after a 60+ match season, dont need a break to recoup.....

I think it's worth mentioning that Brazil's biggest star Ronaldinho will not go to Confederations Cup and instead stays with Barca on their scheduled tour of friendly matches in Asia.
Considering that, it would be quite unbelievable if our Brazilian trio or Juve's Emerson decides to go to that meaningless FIFA tournament instead of Serie A title playoff. They would become very unpopular in Italy if they make that decision.

Originally Posted by Andy Christ

I think it's worth mentioning that Brazil's biggest star Ronaldinho will not go to Confederations Cup and instead stays with Barca on their scheduled tour of friendly matches in Asia.
Considering that, it would be quite unbelievable if our Brazilian trio or Juve's Emerson decides to go to that meaningless FIFA tournament instead of Serie A title playoff. They would become very unpopular in Italy if they make that decision.

yeah if there is a playoff and hopefully now there will be brazil will understand that the milan players will want to play with milan and if ronaldinho is going to asia for barcalonas marketing campaign the italin league decider will obviously be looked at as more important