Scolari could switch to more pragmatic style

Watching Brazil stumble through the World Cup qualifying campaign, not to mention losing to Honduras at the Copa America and to nine-man Cameroon in the Olympics, was like finding a childhood hero sleeping rough.

The fact that they have reached the last 16, in which they face Belgium at Kobe today with a quarter-final against England at stake, has therefore been greeted with widespread relief and no little rejoicing – particularly over the way it was achieved.

Brazil come to Japan as the new bookies' favourites and South America's sole survivors, having reassured many who grew up cherishing the purist values of Pele, Gerson and Tostão with three entertaining victories replete with mazy dribbles, back-heel flicks and 11 goals, including one from an overhead kick. By a defender.

This, remember, is a team coached by Luiz Felipe Scolari, the self-styled pragmatist who last year pronounced "the beautiful game" dead. Against the Belgians, Sven Goran Eriksson will learn whether Scolari has undergone the conversion for which nostalgic critics pined. One suspects he already knows the answer.

At the risk of sounding cynical, the likelihood is that the free-flowing football which accounted for Turkey, China and Costa Rica was deemed appropriate for those relative makeweights. The more negative, physical influences of the European game, in which most of Brazil's side play, seem certain to resurface in the knock-out stages.

Their form in the group stages led seasoned Brazil-watchers to hail them as the country's best since 1982. Ronaldo, though overweight after so many injury lay-offs, burned off defenders as of old and scored in each game. So did Rivaldo, who also found an ideal foil for his creative instincts in the unfussy work of Gilberto Silva. There were exhilarating moments, too, from Roberto Carlos, Cafu, Denilson and Ronaldinho.

That Spanish summer of 20 years ago began with Brazil being similarly lauded for their return to one-touch spontaneity and all-out attack. Falcão, Socrates and Zico were so hot that their humbling of Argentina evoked memories of the godlike 1970 side. But what Scolari will doubtless recall is how, when it came to the last match of the second phase (which was then a mini-league), Brazil needed only a draw yet gifted Italy victory and were suddenly flying back to Rio.

The comparison is all the more pertinent because where Brazil's defending in '82 was merely cavalier, this time it has been kamikaze. Against the Chinese they played with only two at the back, with Cafu and Roberto Carlos operating as wingers, and were fortunate that inexperienced opponents panicked in promising positions. Then Costa Rica were unlucky not to draw level after being 3-0 down.

Belgium have players with the poise to punish such folly. Robert Waseige, the Belgians' veteran coach, suggested yesterday that some in the Brazilian media appeared to assume Brazil and England would meet in the World Cup for the first since Mexico 32 years ago.

He should not complain: Brazilian complacency could ensure a more even contest. Rivaldo, for example, said he believed it would "hard in the beginning", but added: "After we score the first goal it will be easier to control the game."

Scolari has tried to counter such thinking by showing his players a video nasty of how lapses in concentration almost cost them dear against Costa Rica. He calls Belgium "dangerous" and is justifiably convinced they will mass in defence and play on the break. In Marc Wilmots, who scored in all three group fixtures, Waseige possesses one player who could certainly hurt them with his late runs from midfield.

Wilmots' colleague Yves Vanderhaeghe neatly articulated the scenario. "Brazil have so many attack-minded players that they sometimes forget to defend and leave holes," he said. "But we have to be realistic and acknowledge that they are more talented. Our motivation is that it would be the upset of all time if we win."