Brazil great Pele believes the nation can win their sixth World Cup at Russia 2018, but has highlighted one weakness that may prevent them from coming away as champions.
The Selecao marched through their qualifying group in impressive form. In 18 fixtures, they won 12 times and lost only once, scoring a formidable 41 goals to boot and conceding a mere 11.
The former attacker claimed the world title on three occasions, the first of which as a teenager in 1958, and says the current generation have the potential to replicate that success, in part thanks to their head coach.
“I’ve great confidence in the abilities of Tite,” Pele said. “I’ve only got one concern: there are only a few days before the beginning of the World Cup and we still don’t have a good team. Individually, all the players are very good. But we are not a team.”
Neymar’s return to action following a season-ending foot injury with Paris Saint-Germain has offered the great further cause for optimism, with the world’s most expensive player having netted spectacularly in his comeback game against Croatia.
The PSG star alone, however, will not win Brazil the competition, according to the icon.
“Today, he’s matured and has more experience, but he’s not going to win the World Cup alone,” Pele warned. “It’s teams who win the World Cup.”
Brazil’s campaign gets underway against Switzerland on June 17 before further group matches against Costa Rica and Serbia.
