Rio de Janeiro - There was no Confederations Cup Carnival in Brazil with fans and media failing to celebrate the weekend trophy as loud and joyfully as Kaka and his team-mates did in South Africa. The 3-2 comeback win Sunday against the United States in Johannesburg was indeed sensational, star journalist Juca Kfouri admitted in his blog.
"But be careful: the Confederations Cup champion has never won the following year's World Cup."
Fans too fear "the Confederations Cup curse." In an opinion poll made by the daily O Globo, 57 per cent of the readers warned that Brazil still has to improve. In fact, 25 per cent even thought that the team is not yet World Cup-ready, and only 18 per cent saw a national team that played very well in South Africa.
There was almost no singing Sunday on Rio de Janeiro's beaches and in Sao Paulo's bars. Many media criticized Brazil's first-half performance as a "total blackout," but by the end of the game most had enjoyed the game.
"Nobody can bring down Brazil," said the sports website Gazeta Esportiva.
"Yes we can," rejoiced the daily Folha de Sao Paulo.
Columnist Paulo Coelho noted that Brazil have a good team, which is still, however, "far from perfect." O Globo, in turn, saw a "historic comeback."
The night's great winners, from the Brazilian point of view, were striker Luis Fabiano - often in the shadow of bigger names - coach Carlos Dunga and captain Lucio - recently under fire at his club, Bayern Munich.
Lucio was the best player in the tournament, according to Globo television's star commentator Galvao Bueno and to former Brazil player Falcao.
"The centre-back was a warrior," said the daily Estado de Sao Paulo.
And everyone agreed on Confederations Cup top scorer Luis Fabiano, to the detriment of slowly-recovering legend Ronaldo: "He shone and he guaranteed himself a place at the World Cup."
And even Kfouri - who long criticized the coach in the past over the defensive playing style of the winner of five editions of the World Cup - saluted Dunga.
"In 2006 we succumbed due to arrogance, star attitudes, chaos, partying and all the other negative points one could possibly mention. With Dunga on the bench, the team is not running that risk next year," the journalist noted.
"The Dunga style can bury the Confederations Cup curse," he stressed.
