Muricy: We need to use our heads

Muricy: We need to use our heads


Regarded by some as gruff, ill-tempered and possessing a short supply of patience, Santos coach Muricy Ramalho is nevertheless an authority on the game, as you would expect of a man who has won four Brazilian championships and who steered O Peixe to their third Copa Libertadores title earlier this year.

Expounding on his side’s bid for glory at the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2011, the vastly experienced coach spoke to FIFA.com about the challenges that await them in the Far East.

FIFA.com: Everyone’s talking about a potential FIFA Club World Cup final between Santos and Barcelona, but you’ve got a semi-final to play first of all. How have you been approaching that with your players?
Muricy Ramalho: In football you always have to give an example whenever you want to get a message across. It’s not enough just to speak to players. You have to give them an example or they won’t believe in what you’re saying. And the most recent example we’ve got is Internacional last year (Inter lost 2-0 to Congo DR’s TP Mazembe Englebert in the semi-finals at UAE 2010). It goes without saying that people are only asking about Barcelona, but all we know is that we’ve got a very tough opening game, and opening matches are always incredibly stressful.

Barcelona might be the only topic of conversation out there, but I can tell you that the team’s talking about the first game and nothing else. I spoke to the people at Inter, where I’ve coached before and I’ve still got friends, because I wanted to find out what went on. They told me that’s more or less how it was. All the talk was about the final and they forgot about the first game. We can’t have a Brazilian team messing up again.

Does that mean you’re focusing more on the psychological than the tactical side of things?
I’m trying to make sure we’re in the right frame of mind before we go on to the pitch. Once we’re on it there’s not the slightest possibility we won’t have done our homework on the team we’ll be up against, because we really have a close look at all the teams we play. I could tell you something about any team anywhere in the world. It’s an essential part of my job and it’s a way of getting across to your players that the other side’s really good and that you’re on the ball. I’ve always worked like that. You can’t go and play a Bolivian team in the Libertadores and say, like I’ve heard some coaches say, “Ah, I don’t know anything about them’. You can’t say that these days, not with all the resources we’ve got.

Presumably you’ve seen Barcelona a few times already. Have you been watching them more closely since qualifying for Japan 2011?
I’ve heard a lot of people in Brazil say that when there’s a lot of games on at the same time they’ll watch the Santos match. And it’s the same with Barcelona. If there are three European matches on I’ll watch the Barcelona one. I was doing that even before we qualified, so you can guess who I’m watching now.
We need to be patient when we’re not in possession and be able to deal with it.
Santos coach Muricy preaches patience

What’s your view of Barcelona’s possession-based game and how do you plan to combat it?
Real Madrid, Valencia and Manchester United have all tried to get more possession of the ball and none of them have managed it. So what you have to do is use your head and tell the players that that’s the opposition’s strong point. If you try and stop it, not only will you fail but you’ll also be unable to play the way you want to play. We need to be patient when we’re not in possession and be able to deal with it. You feel like saying, ‘Come on, let us have the ball for a bit’. We Brazilians don’t like not having the ball, but we’ll just have to wait for the right time to get hold of it and then play our game, which is not a possession game. It’s the exact opposite to what Barcelona do. We play at pace and go straight for goal and we don’t control the play, whereas Barça move the ball around and try and knock the opposition off balance, pull players out of position so that Pedro, [David] Villa and the midfielders can exploit the gaps. And that happens because their opponents lose patience, which is when the spaces start opening up.

If you freeze the screen when Barcelona are playing you never see anyone up front. You only see the opposing centre-halves standing there on their own, and you ask yourself, ‘How the heck is this team going to score?’ Their penetration’s the key, the patience they’ve got when they’re on the ball. Opposition centre-halves start to want to chase the ball and that’s when they move out of position and someone nips in behind them. We have to be aware that when they’re in possession, someone’s going to try and get into space. We need to make sure the spaces are filled in.

Ganso becomes an even more important player in games like that, doesn’t he?
He’s essential because we don’t have many passers of the ball. We’ve got finishers like Neymar, Borges and Alan Kardec, but we never have much possession. Even when our defensive midfielders get forward their job is to score. Not Ganso though. He’s the only ballplayer we’ve got. He slows the game down when we need to and that’s why we take so much care of him and wrap him up in cotton wool between games.

You've only been at Santos for a little more than six months. Does it feel like more?
It does. I’ve settled down so well it feels like years. I won a trophy straightaway and I’ve adapted to the players and the club’s philosophy and its outlook. I always adapt wherever I go. When I go to a new club I keep the people who’re already there. It’s very rare that I’ll make a change. Some coaches take 12 or 15 people with them when they start a job and get rid of everyone. That’s a big mistake. I didn’t know Santos when I came in, but the people I kept on did. And they’ve helped me settle in and get used to things.

It must have felt strange to go down in Santos' history by winning the Copa Libertadores after just two months.
It was an historic achievement because it was a title the club had been after for a long time. The Libertadores was fundamental to our continued survival in every respect and to our media profile, so much so in fact that we’re getting invitations to go on pre-season tours in China and Africa. It’s been a while since Santos were in such demand and the Libertadores was vital to getting the club back in the spotlight again. And the Club World Cup’s only going to help with that.

Inter stunned as Mazembe reach final

Inter stunned as Mazembe reach final

TP Mazembe Englebert have produced the biggest shock in the history of the FIFA Club World Cup, beating Sport Club Internacional 2-0 to become the first team from outside Europe and South America to qualify for the final. Goals from Mulota Kubangu and Dioko Kaluyituka secured arguably the greatest ever win by an African club, humbling the Brazilian giants and leaving these Congolese underdogs just 90 minutes from becoming world champions.

It was difficult to envisage the scenes of jubilation among the Mazembe players and fans in the opening stages of this match, with Rafael Sobis going close for Internacional as early as the first minute after a slick exchange of one-touch passes. The same player continued to find space during some one-sided early exchanges, and it took a magnificent save from the heroic Muteba Kidiaba to deny him the opening goal after eight minutes. The net had looked certain to bulge when Alecsandro sought out his striking colleague with an incisive low cross, but while the Inter No11 made solid contact, Kidiaba was somehow able to get down to divert the ball behind.

The Brazilians’ movement and speed of passing continued to bewitch Mazembe, and after Kidiaba had again come to the rescue by tipping away an Indio header, Tinga missed arguably the best of Inter’s chances, heading over from seven yards with the keeper stranded. Slowly but surely though, the African champions gained a foothold in this match, restricting their opponents’ opportunities and even launching a few counter-attacks of their own.

Mulota Kubangu provided their best effort of the first half, stinging the palms of Renan from all of 30 yards, but it was in the second period that Mazembe really began to assert themselves. There was a greater urgency and aggression to their play from the moment action resumed, and it took just eight minutes for their more adventurous approach to be rewarded with the opening goal.

And what a goal it was too, volleyed just inside the far post by Kubangu after the Inter defence had allowed him time and space to control an Amia Ekanga knockdown. The ensuing celebrations were predictably exuberant, and once they had died down it was left to the Brazilians to come up with a response.

However, although Celso Roth’s team continued to carve out chances, they found in Kidiaba a worthy and defiant adversary, with the Mazembe keeper again denying Rafael Sobis on 59 minutes after the striker had lashed in a left-foot volley. With every save, the African champions’ No1 seemed to grow in confidence, and with 20 minutes remaining he produced another point-blank stop to parry from Giuliano after the Inter substitute had burst clean through on goal.

It wasn’t entirely one-way traffic though, and Renan needed to produce some heroics of his own to tip over a terrific 25-yard free-kick from goalscorer Kubangu as the clock ticked down. However, the Inter keeper was helpless to prevent the goal that capped this historic African triumph. As they threw men forward in search of an equaliser, the Brazilians were caught by a classic sucker-punch, with Dioko Kaluyituka cutting in from the left and drilling an unstoppable 20-yard drive just inside the left-hand post.

Mazembe now go on to face the winner of tomorrow’s second semi-final between FC Internazionale Milano and Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma, while Internacional will have to make do with battling for bronze against the losers.

FIFA Club World Cup in numbers

FIFA Club World Cup in numbers

The seventh edition of the FIFA Club World Cup begins in Abu Dhabi this evening, commencing a new chapter in this global competition’s colourful history. Ahead of the big kick-off, FIFA.com takes a look over some of this tournament’s most eye-catching statistics.
514

thousand spectators – an all-time record – turned out in Brazil over the eight matches of the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup in 2000. Japan boast the tournament’s highest average attendance, however, having established an impressive mean of 45,553 during the 2007 edition.
148

goals have been scored over the tournament’s six editions. Will this evening’s opening match between Al-Wahda Sports Club and Hekari United serve up its 150th?
38

clubs have participated in the FIFA Club World Cup, with Al Ahly and Pachuca - veterans of three separate editions – the most experienced of them all.
21

years have passed since Roberto Abbondanzieri and Miguel Calero, the Internacional and Pachuca goalkeepers, appeared in their first FIFA competition. Both turned out in 1989 for their respective countries, Argentina and Mexico, with Abbondanzieri appearing in the FIFA U-16 World Youth Championship in Scotland and Calero turning out for El Tri at the FIFA World Youth Championship in Saudi Arabia.
12

matches, 0 defeats. That is the enviable record of Brazilian clubs at the FIFA Club World Cup, with penalties needed to secure the title for Corinthians against Vasco da Gama in 2000 after a goalless final.
4

goals at UAE 2009 established Denilson of Korea Republic’s Pohang Steelers as the FIFA Club World Cup’s all-time leading marksman. The Brazilian’s haul edged him ahead of Romario, Nicolas Anelka, Wayne Rooney, Flavio, Washington and Mohamed Aboutrika, all of whom had struck three times in previous editions.
4

unanswered goals against Club America in the 2006 semi-final gave Barcelona the biggest win in the tournament’s history. The highest-scoring encounter, meanwhile, was served up by Manchester United and Gamba Osaka in 2008, with the English giants triumphing 5-3 over their Japanese hosts.
3

different countries have hosted the FIFA Club World Cup: Brazil in 2000, Japan from 2005 until 2008, and the United Arab Emirates for the past two years. The competition will return to Tokyo for the 2011 edition.
3

Brazilian clubs – Corinthians, Sao Paulo and Internacional – have won the FIFA Club World Cup, making Brazil the tournament's most successful nation. That will remain the case regardless of the outcome of this year’s edition, with Europe’s three successes divided evenly between Italy (AC Milan, 2007), England (Manchester United, 2008) and Spain (Barcelona, 2009).
2

players, Dwight Yorke and Flavio, have the distinction of scoring in two separate FIFA Club World Cups. The Trinidad and Tobago legend managed this feat for different clubs - Manchester United in 2000 and Sydney FC in 2005 – while his Angolan counterpart was on target for Egypt's Al Ahly in 2006 and 2008.
2

FIFA Club World Cup winner’s medals is an achievement unique to Dida, who won the tournament with Corinthians in 2000 before lifting the trophy again with AC Milan seven years later
2

Hekari United players arrive at UAE 2010 having already turned out in a very different FIFA event. Gideon Omokirio and Benjamin Mela have both represented Solomon Islands at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, with the former appearing in four separate editions, amassing 11 appearances and five goals.
2

goals in a FIFA Club World Cup final is a feat that only one player has managed: Filippo Inzaghi, who struck twice for AC Milan against Boca Juniors in 2007. The same year, Sepahan’s Hadi Aghily claimed a very different record by becoming the first and, to date, only player two score two own goals in a single edition.

FIFA Club World Cup in numbers

FIFA Club World Cup in numbers
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The seventh edition of the FIFA Club World Cup begins in Abu Dhabi this evening, commencing a new chapter in this global competition’s colourful history. Ahead of the big kick-off, FIFA.com takes a look over some of this tournament’s most eye-catching statistics.
514

thousand spectators – an all-time record – turned out in Brazil over the eight matches of the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup in 2000. Japan boast the tournament’s highest average attendance, however, having established an impressive mean of 45,553 during the 2007 edition.
148

goals have been scored over the tournament’s six editions. Will this evening’s opening match between Al-Wahda Sports Club and Hekari United serve up its 150th?
38

clubs have participated in the FIFA Club World Cup, with Al Ahly and Pachuca - veterans of three separate editions – the most experienced of them all.
21

years have passed since Roberto Abbondanzieri and Miguel Calero, the Internacional and Pachuca goalkeepers, appeared in their first FIFA competition. Both turned out in 1989 for their respective countries, Argentina and Mexico, with Abbondanzieri appearing in the FIFA U-16 World Youth Championship in Scotland and Calero turning out for El Tri at the FIFA World Youth Championship in Saudi Arabia.
12

matches, 0 defeats. That is the enviable record of Brazilian clubs at the FIFA Club World Cup, with penalties needed to secure the title for Corinthians against Vasco da Gama in 2000 after a goalless final.
4

goals at UAE 2009 established Denilson of Korea Republic’s Pohang Steelers as the FIFA Club World Cup’s all-time leading marksman. The Brazilian’s haul edged him ahead of Romario, Nicolas Anelka, Wayne Rooney, Flavio, Washington and Mohamed Aboutrika, all of whom had struck three times in previous editions.
4

unanswered goals against Club America in the 2006 semi-final gave Barcelona the biggest win in the tournament’s history. The highest-scoring encounter, meanwhile, was served up by Manchester United and Gamba Osaka in 2008, with the English giants triumphing 5-3 over their Japanese hosts.
3

different countries have hosted the FIFA Club World Cup: Brazil in 2000, Japan from 2005 until 2008, and the United Arab Emirates for the past two years. The competition will return to Tokyo for the 2011 edition.
3

Brazilian clubs – Corinthians, Sao Paulo and Internacional – have won the FIFA Club World Cup, making Brazil the tournament's most successful nation. That will remain the case regardless of the outcome of this year’s edition, with Europe’s three successes divided evenly between Italy (AC Milan, 2007), England (Manchester United, 2008) and Spain (Barcelona, 2009).
2

players, Dwight Yorke and Flavio, have the distinction of scoring in two separate FIFA Club World Cups. The Trinidad and Tobago legend managed this feat for different clubs - Manchester United in 2000 and Sydney FC in 2005 – while his Angolan counterpart was on target for Egypt's Al Ahly in 2006 and 2008.
2

FIFA Club World Cup winner’s medals is an achievement unique to Dida, who won the tournament with Corinthians in 2000 before lifting the trophy again with AC Milan seven years later
2

Hekari United players arrive at UAE 2010 having already turned out in a very different FIFA event. Gideon Omokirio and Benjamin Mela have both represented Solomon Islands at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, with the former appearing in four separate editions, amassing 11 appearances and five goals.
2

goals in a FIFA Club World Cup final is a feat that only one player has managed: Filippo Inzaghi, who struck twice for AC Milan against Boca Juniors in 2007. The same year, Sepahan’s Hadi Aghily claimed a very different record by becoming the first and, to date, only player two score two own goals in a single edition.

Unanimous support for 6+5, FIFA Club World Cup hosts revealed

Unanimous support for 6+5, FIFA Club World Cup hosts revealed
(FIFA.com) Tuesday 27 May 2008
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Convening in Sydney yesterday and today, 26 and 27 May, ahead of the 58th FIFA Congress which will take centre stage in the Australian city, the FIFA Executive Committee expressed its unanimous support for the "6+5" objectives. This item is one of the main points on the agenda of the Congress delegates.

Another major decision taken by the Executive Committee was to award the organisation of the 2009 and 2010 editions of the FIFA Club World Cup for the first time to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the following two events, in 2011 and 2012, to Japan, where it has been played since 2005 and will be again in December this year. Since its re-launch in 2005, the competition has grown significantly to become one of the major competitions of FIFA. The Executive Committee agreed that a share of the profits from this tournament would be reinvested in club football around the world.

The FIFA Executive Committee was updated on the status of preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, most notably with reports on the meeting of the Board of the Local Organising Committee in South Africa on 5 and 6 May as well as the recent xenophobic acts in South Africa. The executive reiterated its trust in the authorities to keep the security situation under control and asserted once again its full confidence in South Africa's organisation of the next World Cup. It took note that the Final Draw will be held in Cape Town.

Regarding member associations, the executive suspended the Iraqi Football Association (see separate media release published yesterday) and decided to present this case to the upcoming Congress unless the Iraqi government revokes its decision to dissolve the association by 29 May, midnight (Sydney time). It also ratified the recent decisions of the Emergency Committee to lift the suspensions of the member associations of Albania, Chad and Madagascar. It took note of the application for affiliation recently submitted by the Football Federation of Kosovo and agreed to put a normalisation committee in place at the El Salvador Football Association.

Furthermore, the executive approved the new World Anti-Doping Code, which will be submitted to the FIFA Congress for ratification. Version 3.0 of the code includes individual case management regarding sanctions, a principle that FIFA has always advocated. According to current WADA statistics, FIFA is the international sport federation that conducts the most doping control tests (around 25,000 per year) and has one of the lowest percentages of positive results. WADA President John Fahey and WADA General Secretary David Howman will attend the 2008 FIFA Congress.

The Executive Committee also agreed to suspend the decision to impose an upper altitude limit for matches in FIFA competitions - taken at its December meeting last year - until the full results of FIFA's ongoing study into football in extreme conditions (e.g. extremes of temperature, humidity, altitude) have been presented.

The Executive Committee will submit to the FIFA Congress a proposal to replace the Organising Committee of the FIFA Club World Cup with the Committee for Club Football, whose tasks will be to organise the FIFA Club World Cup and consider issues relating to the interests of club football worldwide.

The members of the Executive Committee received information on the meetings of the Internal Audit Committee and the Finance Committee, which were also held in Sydney earlier this week. The executive approved a proposal from the Finance Committee to donate USD 310,000 from FIFA's Humanitarian Support Fund to three countries recently affected by natural disasters (USD 200,000 to China, USD 100,000 to Myanmar and USD 10,000 USD to Chile).

Other decisions included:
- the Executive Committee designated Mexico as the host country for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2011 and Colombia for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2011;
- the Executive Committee confirmed that the Trinidad & Tobago Football Federation would host the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in 2010 provided that it submitted all outstanding mandatory bid documentation in the coming months;
- the Executive Committee decided that the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt in 2009 would be played from 25 September until 16 October;
- the Executive Committee agreed that an extra session reserved exclusively for medical matters would be added to the programme for the 2009 FIFA Congress in the Bahamas;
- the Executive Committee approved UEFA's request that the August dates reserved for friendly matches in the international match calendar in each year from 2009 to 2013 be moved forward by one week;
- the Executive Committee agreed that it would submit to the Congress for approval an amendment to the wording printed in the agenda of article 17, paragraph 1(d) of the Regulations Governing the Application of the Statutes, whereby any player who assumes a new nationality shall be eligible to play for the new representative team only after having lived continuously for at least five (not two) years after reaching the age of 18 on the territory of that association and that this restriction would be enforced immediately;
- regarding the agenda of the Congress, as the Bolivian Football Federation has withdrawn its request for a discussion about high altitude, this point will be taken out of the agenda.
FIFA president Joseph S. Blatter speaks at a FIFA Executive Committee press conference in Sydney
(Foto-net)
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