Sports / Soccer |
Brazil laud team spirit, not Robinho hat-trick(Reuters)Updated: 2007-07-03 08:21 MATURIN, Venezuela, July 2 - Brazil have tried to play down the importance of Robinho's hat-trick against Chile, preferring instead the usual discourse of team spirit and unity. Robinho himself preferred to deflect attention from his performance in Sunday's 3-0 Copa America win, which pulled the defending champions back into contention in Group B after their opening defeat to Mexico. The Real Madrid player has tended to play second fiddle to the more experienced players in his international career. But the decision of Kaka and Ronaldinho, who asked to skip the tournament, and Dunga's decision not to call up Adriano and Ronaldo has finally given him a chance to shine. "I played well but so did the other players," he said. "I haven't come here to be the star, but to help out," added Robinho, whose last international goal was against the same opponents in a 5-0 win in 2005. "If that means a performance like today's, then that's fine. But if they want me to mark and tackle from behind, I'm going to do that as well." ATTRACT ATTENTION The players' standard responses appeared to have been pre-planned by coach Dunga, who has tried to put the emphasis on collectivity since taking over from Carlos Alberto Parreira last year. "Individually, Robinho was the high point but the whole team was excellent, you can't say that any player was a let down," said team captain Gilberto Silva. "Everybody did their job. It's normal for somebody to attract attention when they score three goals but the whole team got the result." Dunga, who gives the impression that he sees every press conference question as a potential threat to his team's stability, was also sparing in his praise. Asked if he thought Robinho had produced his best performance for Brazil, the former captain said: "He's played other good games as well. But three goals puts a different light on things." The crowd and the media did not agree. Robinho was greeted by raptourous applause by the 52,000 crowd before the game while the other Brazil players got a relatively lukewarm reception. The Brazilian and Chilean media also agreed that Robinho was the outstanding player. "Robinho and ten more," said the Rio de Janeiro daily O Globo. "Robinho was the bogey-man," said Santiago's El Mercurio.
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