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Brazil have already qualified for the 2014 World Cup for the sheer fact of hosting the tournament, and will face a tough task of also qualified Japan, who will look to "shock" the world with a spirited performance. A load of pressure seems to have been lifted from Luis Felipe Scolari and Brazil after defeating France 3-0 in Porto Alegre in their last international friendly capping off a five game unbeaten run for the Selecao.

Neymar

Brazil start their Confederations Cup campaign against Japan on Saturday in the estádio Mané Garrincha in Brasília. In a group that includes Mexico and Italy, the hosts are more than aware that a convincing result against Japan is essential.
Luiz Felipe Scolari is expected to start with the same team that beat a weakened France side 3-0 last weekend in Porto Alegre.

Hulk of FC Zenit St. Petersburg (Photo by Mike Kireev/Epsilon/Getty Images)

Before he was sacked at Chelsea, now Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas turned the Blues onto former FC Porto striker Hulk. Now with Zenit Saint Petersburg in the Russian Premier League, the Brazilian forward is looking for a quick exit according to Sky Sports on Dec.

First and foremost, Feliz dia da Independência, Brasil! Indeed, it's the country's Independence Day today so you get a generous serving of� Brigadeiros (chocolate bonbons) if you're wearing either green, yellow or blue (maybe not all at once!

It didn't take Jose Mourinho long to start making waves after being appointed Chelsea manager for a second time. The Portuguese manager has a major signing in mind to help the Blues make a run at the Premier League title next season. Demba Ba and Fernando Torres, the Blues strike force, had a topsy-turvy season.

Chelsea twice came close to securing the signature of the Brazilian attacker Hulk when he was at FC Porto, but they were unable to sign the player due to several reasons on each occasion. Hulk has since joined the Russian club Zenit St Petersburg, where he is one of the highest earners at the club.

Chelsea to revive interest in ‘unsettled' Hulk? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Chelsea and a host of Serie A clubs are closely monitoring Hulk's situation at Zenit St. Petersburg.

Hulk has publicly raised his concern over his relationship with the Russian club's manager Luciano Spalletti.

AVB All Past, No Future? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

When Andre Villas-Boas first took over at Chelsea, if you had played spot the difference between him and the previous Portuguese incumbent of the Stamford Bridge hot seat, you'd have been hard-pressed to find even one.

At least that was the impression.

En un partido amistoso dos ex galácticos decidieron armar sus escuadras con leyendas del fútbol mundial y recaudar fondos para una noble causa, que año con año piensan realizar para ayudar a combatir la pobreza en Brasil y Africa. En esta edición fue en Porto Alegre Brasil.

El atacante francés Zidane a pesar de haber perdido el partido fue el que más clase mostró de todos los jugadores en la cancha; anoto un golazo que nos hizo recordar aquel monstruo de gol que realizo con el Real Madrid en la final de la Champions League.

By Chris Wright

He's never really been the most convincing of 'keepers, but Milan's Christian Abbiati is always good for a wonder save ever now and then and the way he stopped Hulk's close-range, 1,000mph freekick dead in its tracks last night was most impressive...

That wasn't the only heroic stop that Abbiati pulled off last night either, there was also some Grade 'A' Spiderman shizzle to behold as the game entered its final stages.

A dejected Luis Suarez of Liverpool (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Liverpool's spirited comeback fell short as Hulk's early strike ensured Zenit St. Petersburg progressed to the next round of the Europa League.

Two free kicks from Luis Suarez and a close-range finish from Joe Allen provided the home crowd with optimism going into the latter stages of the match.

Jordan Henderson of Liverpool (Photo via Getty Images)

So much can be summed up by so little a photograph, a song, even a word.

For Liverpool, an entire era can bed summarized with the merest utterance of the city Istanbul. The capital of Turkey is where the unlikeliest of Liverpool sides rose to the occasion when everything appeared lost against AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League Final.

Glen Johnson of Liverpool (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

After coming off of a disappointing defeat in Russia last Thursday, Liverpool bounced back with a convincing 5-0 win against Swansea. The Reds will look to continue that momentum at home when they face Zenit again on Thursday.

Hulk of FC Zenit St Petersburg battles for the ball with Jose Enrique of Liverpool FC-Photo by Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images

Brazilian forward Hulk was the star of the night in Russia as his thunderous strike gave Zenit St.Petersburg the lead after a normally efficient Suarez failed to capitalise on early opportunities for Liverpool.

By Chris Wright

"Oh. My. God. What have we done?"

A week after two prominent members of the first-team were busted down to train with the reserves for having the temerity to raise questions over the very same issue, afake bomb has reportedly been discovered at Zenit St.

By Chris Wright

All is not plum dandy over at Zenit St. Petersburg at the moment, where two of the club's senior players have been forced to train with the club's second string after having the gumption, the bare-faced cheek to raise concerns over the wage disparity between new signings Hulk and Alex Witsel and EVERY SINGLE OTHER PERSON AT THE CLUB.

Luis Suarez of Liverpool (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Zenit St. Petersburg have the opportunity to eliminate Liverpool in their leg 2 match, in the round of 32 of the Europa League. After defeating the Reds in Russia, Zenit must now go the hostile environment of Anfield Stadium in order to close out the series.

Joe Hart of Manchester City (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Goalkeepers are rarely the stars of a match, but Manchester City's Joe Hart made big saves every few minutes. Considering the money the Citizens spent on players, the talent they have and last year's Premier League trophy, they should have done better than drawn on a penalty.

Photo via: Ghetty Images

Wednesday's Champion's League match-up between Italian club AC Milan and Russian powerhouse Zenit St. Petersburg is a match of two teams with seemingly opposite aspirations.

AC Milan notably sold their two best players, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva, to big-spending French side PSG, due to constant debt.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is rumoured to be leaving on his jet plane again as he looks to go back in for Portuguese midfielder Joao Moutinho. The deadline day deal for the Porto player ultimately failed for conflicting reasons but it may seem as if the 25 year old remains the priority target.

Zenit St Petersburg showed their intent to become a European power by dumping between €80-100 million on Hulk and Axel Witsel, but one player� noticeably� absent from their acquisition list as the Russian transfer window draws to a close is Andrei Arshavin. Arsenal loaned the out of favor 31-year-old back to Zenit, the club they got him from in 2009, for the second half of last season and a permanent deal seemed inevitable.