Dunga fails to make a din to drum up interest

THE PEOPLE promoting this evening’s game between Brazil and Ireland are not exactly beginners at this sort of thing so it seems safe to assume the expected crowd of 40,000 will not come as too much of a setback.

Not too far off twice that number watched the two sides play at Croke Park two years ago and if Kentaro, the company behind the rematch, were hoping the Brazilian pre-match press conference yesterday might be the sort of affair to help generate a sizeable walk-up crowd, it’s fairly safe to assume this morning they are somewhat disappointed.

Brazilian coach Dunga, a former defensive midfielder and World Cup winner in his day, is not known for his devotion to entertainment. Still, yesterday’s encounter with the football media was a surprisingly dull affair.

The manager will not have added much to the sense of anticipation by saying his main objective is to return his players to their clubs uninjured, nor by saying the only reason he is particularly pushed about beating the Irish is so as not to have to listen to journalists moan about his side’s failure to win for the next three months.

The handful of Irish reporters who made the journey from Ireland’s base in St Albans to the Emirates to take in their second press conference of the day had done so in the hope and expectation of seeing some fireworks over the absence of Ronaldinho, the coach’s failure to select Pato or even the underlying frustration with the perceived lack of flair in a team of so many talents.

Instead, Dunga got to coast through questions about how it feels to be the most important person in his country just now or how he hopes to keeps his players focused in the build-up to their opening game at the World Cup.

The closest brush with controversy was when somebody asked in terms that seemed a good deal more passionate in Portuguese than the translator appeared to convey, who, if the tournament was today, the manager might bring as his third goalkeeper. Deftly, Dunga defused the situation by suggesting there were quite a few players still in with a shout.

A little earlier, the South Americans had staged a mixed zone at the entrance to the stadium with players invited (though many took the opportunity to respectfully decline) to stop and chat with the media on topics of mutual interest.

Kaka, to be fair, was one of those to play ball despite having been subjected to hefty criticism by the press, especially in Spain, for his failure to take the Bernabeu by storm since arriving from Milan at the start of the season.

The Irish press corps had high hopes for the striker and for us, at least, he delivered. “I feel sorry for Ireland,” he said, “but I don’t think Thierry (Henry) is a malicious guy. It was an instinctive moment. It was something that was too quick. It is sad that Ireland are out of the World Cup but it is over now.”

“For you maybe,” we thought to ourselves as we moved down the line towards former Arsenal player Gilberto Silva who was also suitably sympathetic to the Irish.