An exciting day here at CultFootball HQ, and more generally in the NYC metro area–if one is a soccer fan, and in particular a fan of the USMNT and/or the Seleção Brasileira, as the two national teams will be facing off this evening em Nova Jersey, i.e., in New Jersey–at the brand spanking New Meadowland Stadium.

Yours truly will be heading out soon to make the trip out to NJ for the game, and so I’d been planning to write up some sort of match preview–at the very least to acquaint myself with who’s going to be on the pitch tonight, in particular for the Brazilian team.  As has been widely reported, Brazil’s new coach Mano Menezes has chosen to bring along only 4 players who were on the squad that went to South Africa for the World Cup (Robinho, Thiago Silva, Ramires and Daniel Alves), and so the remainder of the roster will be players that most of us haven’t seen play before–though in the weeks since the WC ended, we have reported on tranfer news regarding two highly touted players that we should be seeing tonight, Ganso and Neymar.

Rather fortuitously, just this morning we connected with a friend of our friend/coach Larry (who was CultFootball Senior WC2010 Correspondent; in fact, Larry’s final South Africa dispatch appeared on the blog earlier today), who lives in Brazil and was kind enough to not only send us a few articles from Globo.com’s Seleção Brasileira coverage previewing tonight’s game, but he actually took the time to translate them to English for us!

So here we go..CultFootball’s first match preview which can also serve as a Brazilian Portuguese learning tool.

First,  open up No último treino, Mano monta 4-3-3 com Ganso, Robinho, Neymar e Pato” to read along in Portuguese while reading our (“2nd order”) friend’s translation.

Well, for those of you too lazy to open up the link, here’s the 1st couple paragraphs pasted from the original, so you can compare directly with the 1st couple paragraphs below:

No último treino, Mano monta 4-3-3 com Ganso, Robinho, Neymar e Pato

Técnico faz esquema parecido com o do Corinthians de 2009 e aposta no entrosamento de trio santista. Brasil pega os Estados Unidos na terça-feira

Mano Menezes colocou em prática nesta segunda-feira, véspera de sua estreia na Seleção Brasileira, o discurso que usou quando assumiu o cargo: vai em busca do futebol arte contra os Estados Unidos. No último treino antes do amistoso, o técnico testou o time no 4-3-3 com Alexandre Pato, Robinho, Neymar e Ganso como titulares.

A equipe titular escalada por Mano no treino tático no estádio New Meadowlands contou com Victor, Daniel Alves, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, André Santos, Lucas, Ramires, Ganso, Robinho, Neymar e Pato. Os reservas tiveram Rafael, Rever, Henrique, Marcelo, Jucilei, Hernanes, Ederson, Carlos Eduardo, Diego Tardelli e André. Os goleiros Jefferson e Renan fizeram exercícios com o preparador Francisco Cersósimo.

And the English translation:

In the final practice, Mano sets up a 4-3-3 with Ganso, Robinho, Neymar, and Pato
Coach uses a scheme similar to that of Corinthians in 2009 and bets on the teamwork of the Santos trio. Brazil plays the USA on Tuesday

Leandro Canônico
Direct from New Jersey (Globo.com)

Mano Menezes put in practice this Monday, on the eve of his debut with the Brazilian national team, the discourse he used when he took over the job. He’s going for “futebol arte” against the USA. In the last practice before the friendly, the coach tested a the team in a 4-3-3 with Alexandre Pato, Robinho, Neymar, and Ganso as starters.

The starting team set up by Mano in the tactical practice in the New Meadowlands Stadium had Victor, Daniel Alves, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, André Santos, Lucas, Ramires, Ganso, Robinho, Neymar, and Pato. The reserve team had Rafael, Réver, Henrique, Marcelo, Jucilei, Hernanes, Éderson, Carlos Eduardo, Diego Tardelli, and André. Goalies Jefferson and Renan did exercises with trainer Francisco Cersósimo.

(Caption)André Santos plays with the ball and Robinho shows his smile during the practice in New Jersey (Photo: Reuters)

The scheme is quite similar to the one used by the coach at Corinthians in 2009, when they won the São Paulo state championship (Campeonato Paulista) and the Copa do Brasil. At the time, the starting “base” of that team was made up of Felipe, Alessandro, Chicão, William, André Santos, Christian, Elias, Douglas, Jorge Henrique, Dentinho, and Ronaldo. Additionally, Mano is betting on the intermeshing of the Santos trio (Robinho-Neymar-Ganso), champs in the Paulista and Copa do Brasil this year.

“The initial idea of this formation, maintaining the characteristics of Santos, is to minimize the lack of familiarity. Something completely normal,” Mano said.

On the field to be used in Tuesday’s friendly, Mano repeatedly tested stopped-ball plays and counterattack launches. According to the friendly’s organizers, 65,000 of the 73,000 tickets made available had been sold. Ticket windows will be open until the start of the game.

Original article: http://globoesporte.globo.com/futebol/selecao-brasileira/noticia/2010/08/na-vespera-da-estreia-mano-escala-ganso-pato-e-neymar-no-4-3-3.html

Second: open up “Com ‘cara de Brasil’, Seleção encara os Estados Unidos em Nova Jersey“, which opens as follows:

Com ‘cara de Brasil’, Seleção encara os Estados Unidos em Nova Jersey

Mano opta por esquema super ofensivo no seu primeiro desafio como técnico verde e amarelo. Renovação vai começar a todo vapor

Depois de 38 dias da eliminação nas quartas de final da Copa do Mundo da África do Sul, a Seleção Brasileira volta a campo nesta terça-feira para encarar os Estados Unidos, no estádio New Meadowlands, em Nova Jersey, às 21h (de Brasília), em partida amistosa. Para o Brasil esse jogo significa renovação. OGLOBOESPORTE.COM transmite o confronto ao vivo, em vídeo.

A começar pelo comando técnico. No lugar de Dunga está Mano Menezes, que fez sucesso recentemente com Grêmio e Corinthians. Mas o ponto alto da mudança é a troca do esquema truncado, cheio de volantes, por um mais ousado, com três atacantes. É o Brasil novamente com cara de Brasil.

and translated reads as follows:

“Looking like Brazil,” the Seleção faces the United States in New Jersey

Mano goes with a super-offensive scheme in his first challenge as the green-and-yellow coach. Renovation will begin at full speed

By Leandro Canônico, Direct from New Jersey (Globo.com)

Thirty-eight days after being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the World Cup in South Africa, the Brazilian national team returns to the field this Tuesday to face the United States in a friendly at New Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey, at 21:00 Brasília time (20:00 EDT). For Brazil, this game means renewal.

Starting with the coaching staff. Replacing Dunga is Mano Menezes, who has had success recently with Grêmio and Corinthians. But the high point of the change is the replacement of the truncated scheme, full of defensive midfiedlers, with a more daring scheme with three forwards. It’s Brazil once again looking like Brazil (literally, “with Brazil’s face”).

“It’s important to make it clear that Brazilian football always had great quality. We’re just taking advantage of a special moment, taking players with this kind of play and proposing a way of acting. It’s nothing new in football,” declared the new commander of the Seleção.

After the failure in the World Cup against Holland and coach Dunga’s exit, it was a fact that Brazil would undergo major renewal. It’s not by chance that only four players who were in South Africa were capped for the friendly: Daniel Alves, Robinho, Ramires, and Thiago Silva. (Translator adds: and of those, Thiago Silva didn’t play and Ramires and Dani Alves had limited playing time). One of them, by the way, is expected to be the team’s captain.

(There’s more… but with the picture, it doesn’t fit on this page)

(Caption) Ganso exercises during Brazil’s practice (Photo: Leandro Canônico / Globoesporte.com)

In his first list as coach of the Seleção, Mano Menezes prioritized the moment and “made a few bets.” For just that reason, names like Paulo Henrique Ganso, Neymar, and André are mixed with those of somewhat unknown players like David Luiz, Éderson, and Rafael. The coach appears quite satisfied with his list.

“I certainly have in my hands the best collection of talent with a solid technical base. I was looking at the formation of the reserve team during the practice, and it might be ideal. The coach’s job is exactly that: take the best parts and put together a scheme,” Menezes added.

(Caption) Mano Menezes gives Brazilian national team athletes directions
(Photo: CBF)

For that reason, he has “bet” on the base of the Santos team that shone in the first half of the year, winning the São Paulo state championship and the Copa do Brasil. Ganso is therefore expected to command the Brazilian midfield, and will have in front of him Robinho and Neymar as forwards, reinforced by the also-young Alexandre Pato, who is 20.

The friendly against the United States will mark the debut of the Mano Menezes Era for the Brazilian national team. The coach will lead the team in five more friendlies this year: two in September, two in October, and one in November.

On the US side, the word is not renewal, but maintaining what has worked. In the probable starting lineup, coach Bob Bradley has ten players who were in South Africa. The North American team fell in the round of 16 to African sensation Ghana, which then lost to Uruguay in the next round.

USA X BRAZIL

Howard; Cherundolo, Goodson, Bocanegra, and Bornstein; Donovan, Edu, Bradley, and Kljestan; Altidore and Findley.	Victor; Daniel Alves, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, and André Santos; Lucas, Ramires, and Ganso; Robinho, Neymar, and Alexandre Pato.
Coach: Bob Bradley.	Coach: Mano Menezes.
Date: 10/08/2010. Time: 20:00 (21:00 in Brasília). Stadium: New Meadowlands, in Nova Jersey.

Referee: Silviu Petrescu (CAN). Assistants: Joe Fletcher (CAN) and Daniel Belleau (CAN);