SAITAMA, Japan, 24 June — A team “seeking revenge” and eager to earn its place in history. This is the adversary Brazil’s coach Luiz Felipe Scolari is expecting to run into in next Wednesday’s World Cup semifinal match in Saitama.
Aside from entering the history books by reaching the final at their first appearance in the World Cup since 1954, the Turks also have a very concrete reason to do everything possible to gain a victory over the Brazilians.
On June 3, in the first game for both teams, Brazil went away with a 2-1 win thanks to a controversial penalty awarded by South Korean referee Kim Young-joo, who also showed a red card to Turkish defender Alpay Ozalan.
Furthermore, Brazilian star Rivaldo put on a theatrical display in the final minute, pretending to have been struck in the face by a ball kicked by Hakan Unsal, although he had in reality only been hit on the legs and arms. Referee Kim fell from the trick and sent off the Turk.
The world governing body FIFA later fined Rivaldo $8,000, but this did little to pacify the Turks, who had to play their next match without Alpay and Unsal and only managed a 1-1 draw against Costa Rica.
Publicly, Scolari has to date avoided commenting on these incidents in the run-up to Wednesday’s clash.
At a press conference held Saturday before it was known that Turkey had qualified — by eliminating Senegal on a “golden goal” — the coach merely noted that the European team had caused Brazil difficulties in the first game.
Nevertheless, news circulating among reporters close to the “selecao” indicates that in a private conversation with his adviser and friend Flavio Teixeira, “Felipao” appeared to be somewhat worried about the renewed encounter with the Turks.
And if that weren’t already enough, Scolari will have to replace at least one member of the “Triple Rs” — Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho Gaucho — who make up the principal attacking threat for the Brazilians.
Ronaldinho was shown the red card against England in the quarterfinals and will miss the game against Turkey. Scolari says he has “at least three or four options” to replace the Paris Saint-Germain player, who on Friday set up Rivaldo’s equalizer against England and then scored the winner.
