Brazil's national soccer (2009-09-02)

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Brazil's national soccer squad trained for the first time on Tuesday (September 1) ahead of the weekend's World Cup qualifier against arch-rivals Argentina away in Rosario.Coach Dunga asked his team to concentrate and leave aside the recent provocative comments by his Argentine counterpart Diego Maradona and forward Carlos Tevez.Maradona said he wished he were 20 years younger in order to play against Brazil and that his side is extremely motivated to beat their rivals.Brazil, who lead the South American group, visit fourth-placed Argentina on Sept. 5 in Rosario and host Chile, who are second, in Salvador four days later. The teams finishing in the top four places, which at present also include Paraguay, qualify for the 2010 finals in South Africa. The fifth-placed team go into a playoff.Playmaker Gilberto Silva said Brazil would make an extra effort to qualify in the match against Argentina."Losing points at this stage is more complicated. We still have four matches ahead of us to qualify and a victory already gives us this guarantee. So, we'll try to qualify soon, the sooner the better," he told reporters during a training session in Teresopolis.Right winger Maicon said the squad had to keep a special eye out for striker Lionel Messi."Knowing how good a player he is (Lionel Messi), during the match he might do something and break through our defense, so if we're not careful he can break through and we're finished. In my opinion he (Messi) is one of the world's best players and we can see that in every match in Barcelona. We will double our attention not only over Messi, but also over Argentina to earn these three points," he said.Argentina have been beset by injury worries before the game in Rosario, prompting Maradona to add 30-year-old midfielder Rodrigo Brana, 35-year-old striker Martin Palermo and 36-year-old defender Rolando Schiavi to his squad.Brazil also recently lost VfL Wolfsburg midfielder Josue after he injured his right knee.Flamengo's striker Adriano, one of the top scorers in the Brazilian championship, was recalled by Dunga for the two upcoming matches.Maradona's team are precariously placed in fourth place in the 10-team South American qualifying group with 22 points, two ahead of fifth-placed Ecuador, and four matches each to play.