The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) today announced Brazil's preliminary squad for the World Cup in South Africa. 23 players have made the provisional squad. The CBF will also release details of a further seven ‘reserves' over the next day or so. Brazil will begin training in Curitiba on the 21st of this month and Dunga has until June 1st to finalize the 23 players he'll be taking to the World Cup.

How appropriate to have the Grand Final of this event held at the Grand Ol' Lady (National Stadium - pictured above) before its scheduled demolish in days to come.
A total of 200 teams from both Senior and Junior categories emerged after two weeks of intensive competitions around the island to pit for the ultimate prize.

Inter Milan's Philippe Coutinho in Brazil's squad

According to O Globo, Brazil have been lined up to face Iran in Abu Dhabi. The Brazilian Football Confederation have yet to confirm the fixture, which may take place in the UAE on October 7th.

Brazil will also play another friendly on the 12th – probably in Arsenal's Emirates stadium.

Brazil coach Mano Menezes will face his first big test in November

The Brazilian Football Confederation announced on Monday that Brazil will take on Argentina on November 17th 2010. The friendly against the two rivals will take place in Qatar.

Brazil won the last meeting 3-1 in the South America World Cup qualifiers in Rosario in 2009.

Brazil coach Mano Menezes

The Brazilian Football Confederation has announced that Brazil will take on Holland on 4th June next year. This will be the first meeting between the two since the Europeans knocked Brazil out of the quarter-finals of the World Cup earlier this year.

The venue has yet to be decided but the cities of São Paulo or Porto Alegre are likely to stage the game.

Dunga

The Brazilian Football Confederation has just announced that Brazil will take on Zimbabwe and Tanzania before the World Cup kicks off in South Africa. The South Americans will play Zimbabwe in Harare on June 2nd and then face Tanzania in Dar El Salaam five days later.

Brazil have been lined up to play the USA on August 10th. According to the United States Soccer Federation, the South Americans will take on Uncle Sam's boys at the recently opened Meadowlands stadium in New Jersey. However, at the time of writing, the Brazilian Football Confederation has yet to confirm the fixture.

The Brazilian referee appointed for England's opening Group C game against the USA was suspended last season by his national federation amid accusations of bribery and incompetence.
Carlos Eugênio Simon, who has officiated at the last two World Cup finals, was stood down by the Brazilian football confederation for the final six weeks of the domestic campaign after a build-up of perceived errors culminated in the president of Palmeiras denouncing him as "a crook, a scoundrel and a shameless bastard".

And so, with the 2010 World Cup passing into the history books, we peek ahead to 2014, as the World Cup returns to South America for the first time since 1978, heading to Brazil. It has been a long break for the continent: 4 of the first 11 World Cups staged were held there, but none of the 8 since.

The Taca das Nacoes ("Nations' Cup" in Portuguese) was held in 1964 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Brazilian Football Confederation. To my surprise, the hosts and World Cup holders didn't have everything their own way.
Argentina, Portugal and England joined Brazil for a series of matches held in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in late May and early June.

The brazilian national team and it's complete delegation visited Lula in Brazil's capital, Brasilia. The president, an outpoken Corinthians fan, offered the Palacio da Alvorada (official residency) as the venue. CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) President Ricardo Teixeira was working on home turf, given his political and mafiosi-style antics.

Julio Cesar's run of 26 consecutive starts for Brazil will come to an end on Monday after the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) confirmed the goalkeeper will miss the country's friendly against Tanzania. GettyImages Julio Cesar is considered one ...

Muricy Ramalho about 100 years ago

The Brazilian Football Confederation have just announced that Muricy Ramalho is to become the next Brazil coach.

Ramalho is still in charge of Fluminense and it's not clear whether the coach will continue his duties with the Laranjeiras club.

The 54-year-old former midfielder won the Campeonato Brasileiro with São Paulo three times in a row between 2006 to 2008.

Flu do Brazil a favour: Muricy Ramalho is going nowhere

Brazil remain without a coach after Rio side Fluminense refused permission for Muricy Ramalho to leave the club. After a day of speculation, the Brazilian Football Confederation released a statement on Friday evening confirming that Fluminense would not release Ramalho.

Mano Menezes

Following yesterday's debacle with Muricy Ramalho, the Brazilian Football Confederation have finally got their man – or rather the man they wanted after their first choice turned out to be unavailable.

After being invited to take over Brazil on Friday, Luis Antônio Venker Menezes, 48, better known as Mano Menezes, confirmed that he would accept the post on Saturday morning.

Neymar scores on his debut. Well, what else did you expect?

Four years of crap was flushed away in New Jersey last night as Brazil returned to the flamboyant style we all know and love. In his first game in charge of Brazil, Mano Menezes and his bright young things did much to erase the memory of the drab, unadventurous football the world had to endure under previous coach, Dunga.

Brazilian boss Mano Menezes called up his second group of players this Friday morning in Rio de Janeiro. More new names such as youngster Phillipe Coutinho, who's gets his first opportunity as a senior player, and Hulk, the Porto striker who had only one opportunity with Dunga.

Goalkeeper Gomes from Tottenham Hotspur comes back to the National Squad to join Daniel Alves, Thiago Silva, Ramires and Robinho as the only 2010 World Cup returnees.

Today, we give a platform to Professor Christopher Gaffney. To learn more about Gaffney's resume and qualifications in writing this piece, click here.

And...how's it going?

In 2007, FIFA awarded the 2014 World Cup to Brazil.

Following Colombia's withdrawal, Brazil was the only candidate as FIFA's short-lived confederation rotation system had guaranteed that a CONMEBOL nation would host the 2014 tournament.

The brazilian national team and it's complete delegation visited Lula in Brazil's capital, Brasilia. The president, an outpoken Corinthians fan, offered the Palacio da Alvorada (official residency) as the venue. CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) President Ricardo Teixeira was working on home turf, given his political and mafiosi-style antics.