Rio de Janeiro - Brazil have secured a place at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) is set to meet next week to define the training plan in the run-up to the World Cup, where they will seek their sixth title. CBF president Ricardo Teixeira noted Thursday that southern Brazil has climate conditions similar to those of the South African winter, where the cold surprised members of the "selecao" that won the Confederations Cup in June.
"Temperature at the Confederations Cup was as low as 6 degrees Celsius," said Teixeira.
He added that some people mentioned the need to get the team used to high altitude, since some World Cup venues are 1,700 metres above sea level.
Teixeira ruled out the possibility of training in Europe.
"In 2006 they convinced me to do that because of the time difference (with Brazil). But now it is useless to train in the European summer. We would need to do two preparation sessions, because then we are going to play with temperatures of 6 degrees."
Teixeira also ruled out another African country for Brazil's training camp. For him, none would have an infrastructure that is compatible with the team's needs.
"I do not think we will find similar conditions, and it would be useless to choose a place and to see once we get there that it is not going to work out and that we have wasted time."
The idea of carrying out some preparations at home could be a way to bring the team - made up mostly of footballers who play in Europe - closer to the fans.
In Germany 2006, the team presentation and a first stage of preparations took place in the Swiss town of Weggis. Many analysts said that the absence of contact between the "selecao" and their fans was one of the reasons behind the "apathy" that Brazil showed in the World Cup, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals.
