Tite glad for extra time to prepare

Brazil coach happy team’s first match will be three days after World Cup starts on Nov 21

DOHA:

Brazil coach Tite said he was happy to have been placed in Group G following Friday's World Cup draw in Doha as it will give his team more time to prepare.

The World Cup kicks off on November 21 with hosts Qatar taking on Ecuador.

Brazil's first match will be three days later against Serbia, before further fixtures against Switzerland and Cameroon.

"Whatever time you can have with the players, training, is an advantage," said Tite.

It is usually considered better to start the tournament earlier rather than later as it gives teams more time between matches the further they progress into the competition.

While on paper five-time former winners Brazil appear clear favourites, Tite pointed out that their opponents had already qualified ahead of some football heavyweights.

"We're talking about the elimination of Italy and Portugal at the hands of Switzerland and Serbia" respectively in the European group stage where only the pool winners qualified automatically, Tite told Brazilian channel SportTV from Doha.

Portugal did eventually manage to qualify for the World Cup after a play-off victory over North Macedonia, who shocked Italy in the previous round.

"And we also have Cameroon who are very strong in Africa," added Tite.

"I watched the Switzerland match, they played right after us during the qualifiers. It was against Italy, they were up 1-0 from the start and almost made it 2-0 but ended up drawing.

"They're world-class, a high level so we'll also have to play at a high level."

Brazil, who breezed through their qualifying campaign unbeaten and set a new record for points in the single South American group, played both Serbia and Switzerland in the last tournament in Russia.

They beat Serbia 2-0 but drew 1-1 with the Swiss.

Brazil have not played a European side since beating the Czech Republic 3-1 in a friendly in March 2019.

But Tite is not concerned.

Argentina's Scaloni has 'no complaints' over draw

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni admitted on Friday that his team's World Cup draw could have been a lot worse after being paired with Mexico, Poland and Saudi Arabia.

The Albiceleste were the top seeds in Group C when the draw was made in Doha.

The two-time winners will begin their campaign on November 22 against the Saudis.

"We cannot complain but we cannot be pleased either," Scaloni told Argentine TV channel TyC Sports.

"We think we can have a good group phase but we have full respect for all of them."

Their toughest opponents could be Mexico, whom Argentina defeated in the last 16 of both the 2006 and 2010 tournaments.

"Historically they are opponents that have been difficult for us," said Scaloni, who represented Argentina as a player in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, in which is only appearance was against Mexico.

"They played a great match against us and we won in extra-time. It was a very difficult match. Mexico have a history at the World Cup."

Poland are "a good national team with good players, well-known ones".

Van Gaal says Dutch have easier draw than in 2014

Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal said Friday the Dutch had received a kinder World Cup draw than their last appearance in the finals in 2014.

The Dutch were drawn against host nation Qatar, Ecuador and African champions Senegal in Group A.

In 2014, the Dutch won a group containing Chile, Spain and Australia and went on to reach the semi-finals.

"It is a better draw than 2014, but that means nothing," the Dutch coach told the NOS public broadcaster. "We will still prepare ourselves well."

Van Gaal, who stirred controversy this month when he said it was "ridiculous" to hold the World Cup in Qatar, had predicted before the draw that the Dutch would face the host nation.

"It was a gamble, but of course it's nice when a gamble becomes true," he said.

"I haven't been to Qatar or Senegal that often... so I don't know these countries that well.

"But we have very good scouts that will look into things," he said. "They will analyse our opponents and until now they have done fantastic work."

Van Gaal has accused FIFA of taking the tournament to Qatar for "money and commercial interests", adding: "That is the main motive of FIFA."