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Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said Sunday it
would be "stupid" to think his team would consider playing
deliberately for a draw against Cameroon in order to choose
its second-round opponent at the World Cup.
Scolari dismissed any chance that Brazil would not try to
win Monday's decisive Group A match in Brasilia.
"You have to win the match, you have to advance to the
next round," Scolari said. "Some people have been saying
that we might consider playing to choose our opponent, but
they are either stupid or ill-intentioned. We have to play to
advance, not to choose anything. We have to play to win."
Brazil, Mexico and Croatia are still in contention to advance
from Group A. Netherlands and Chile are playing to
determine No. 1 and No. 2 in Group B _ the winners of
these groups next play the second-place team in the other.
Brazil needs at least a draw against Cameroon to guarantee
a berth in the round of 16. A win will likely secure first place
in the group, but even a loss could be enough for the hosts
to advance depending on the result of the match between
Mexico and Croatia, which will be played at the same time
in Recife.
Netherlands and Chile play in Sao Paulo before Brazil's
match on Monday. Both teams have already qualified for
the next round and a draw will secure the Dutch in first
place. The Netherlands eliminated Brazil in the quarterfinals
of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Scolari dismissed any nation of the possibility of match
fixing in Monday's match because Cameroon is already
eliminated.
He said even the suggestion of "match manipulation" was
"disrespectful to Cameroon, not only to us."
Brazil, the only team to play in all 20 World Cups, has
advanced to the second round in every tournament since
1970. This is one of the few times that the five-time
champions haven't reached the last group match with a
spot in the round of 16 virtually secured.
"If we had beaten Mexico we would be a lot less anxious
ahead of this match," Scolari said. "But we know that we
can advance with two of the three results."
Brazil opened with a 3-1 win over Croatia before being held
to a 0-0 draw by Mexico. Cameroon began the tournament
with a 1-0 loss to Mexico and then fell 4-0 to Croatia.
Cameroon is already certain to start without its captain and
most experienced player, Samuel Eto'o, who has a right
knee injury.
Scolari said Brazil will play with the same lineup he used in
the opening win against Croatia, with Hulk in attack. The
striker missed the match against Mexico after a left leg
muscle injury.
"We could change a few things if we had already advanced,"
Scolari said. "But now we have to use what we think is our
best team. We have to do everything possible to advance."
Brazil will be playing its 100th World Cup match on
Monday, becoming the second team to reach the milestone,
after Germany.