Having established themselves as the unparalleled masters of Latin America, with an away victory over Argentina no less, Brazil have to be considered as one of the favorites to lift the trophy for which they have now qualified with ease and aplomb. Yet, if Dunga's Brazil were to do so, the Cup will have been obtained not by the joyous, dancing football of yesteryears, but a very pragmatic approach which will require the Brazilians to beat the Europeans at their own game.
Argentina Subdued

It has been no secret that Dunga has built his team around restraint and a counter-attacking philosophy, yet their performance against Argentina provided significant insight into exactly how un-Brazilian this team could get. Whatever the scoreboard read let no one take away from the languid passing and creativity that the Argentine's displayed before and even after their defensive collapse. A missing poacher, an apology for a defense and Maradona's inexperience may have caused Argentina's demise and they have big issues to resolve, but that is a discussion for another day.

For their part, Brazil were happy to sit deep and nullify the attacks (remember Chelsea and Man U against Barcelona in CL semi-finals) while waiting patiently for the chances to come their way. They came in the form of set-pieces and counter-attacks and with brutal efficiency the chances were taken. This has been the hallmark of the Brazilians under Dunga. Though the strategy has been close to mis-firing a number of times (against Egypt and USA at the Confederations Cup for example), Dunga believes that he has the players at his disposal to plot his victories around steel, speed and strength rather than skill and samba.

Dunga's Choices

A look at the team that started against Argentina confirms his belief. His centre backs are tall, strong and clinical, his full-backs who resemble their central partners in shape and size have imbibed the need of curbing their attacking instincts and while the front line rivals the best there can be in world football, it is the central midfield that displays without subtlety, Dunga's intent and approach.

If in Gilberto Silva he fields a time tested midfield marauder who thrives on making life difficult for any opposition in possession of a football, then in Felipo Melo he has found a partner for Gilberto, who could not bring more of the same even he was cloned from the ex-Arsenal man. Together they do the same simple things, sitting back, shielding the defense, covering up for missing full backs, winning the ball and passing it around them to let something build. Yes, not for Dunga a deep lying playmaker partnering a defensive midfielder. He goes the whole nine yards into his own box and then sees what can be built from there.

Dunga's Omissions

Perhaps even more revealing than the players he picks, is the list of players who do not make the grade for Dunga. Diego is perhaps the most impressive of the names who struggle to make it to the bench let alone the pitch and surely many a less confident manager would have opted to always have Ronaldinho on the bench.  Elano and Ramirez have both started featuring regularly and though Ramirez is still an unknown quantity in the northern hemisphere, clearly a Diego-Ronaldinho combine would look far more stunning on paper. Even when it comes to strikers, Dunga's preference for strong powerful finishers over creative all round front men is evident. Adriano gets preferred over Pato in spite of his fall from grace over the last few seasons, though I suspect if Amauri ever became available, he would be just the man to come off the bench for Fabiano.

The Pressure is On

After a sluggish start to his managerial career, Dunga has found his feet and his team is delivering the results that would keep the baying media and crowd off his back. Yet, in many ways, this is a gamble that could backfire on any given day. Perhaps the recent near-defeats to Egypt and the USA will only have made the former World Cup winner even more cautious in his approach, but it is a fact that Dunga's new look Brazil has not been tested yet against the best European teams.

He has set out to beat them with their tricks and while he does have the team that can implement his plans almost to perfection, his defense has not been tested by a striker like Torres, Drogba or Ibrahimovic. For all the talent that Argentina have up front, all their players like to play with the ball at their feet and many a times creative teams need a finisher at the helm to break packed boxes. The rest of Latin America offers even lower physical and aerial threat up front and Brazil have managed to comfortably establish their superiority in the region.

The World Cup though will be a different ball game. One defeat can knock even the best out to cool their heels for another four years, but if you are the man in charge of Brazil, you pray and hope that such a night never hits you. And even if it does, you would have done well to have established the team as the benchmark of great football or you will never be forgiven at home. In other words, if you have to lose, lose it the Tele Santana way or don't expect compassion when the plane lands back at home. Clearly, Dunga is not keeping that option open.

The tidings are good for Brazil. This World Cup is outside Europe where Brazil have established traditions of dominance and their last two World Cup wins have not been achieved playing the Harlem Globetrotters of football. The cloud to the silver lining of course is the added pressure that every little indicator of destiny brings with itself.

Plan B

Brazil have three games to go before the qualifying campaign ends formally for them and it will be interesting to see if Dunga experiments with squad and strategy. There are players like Alex at Chelsea who fit right into his current scheme of things and would be good to evaluate as backup options, while the prospect of seeing Diego in the midfield role supplying Kaka, Robinho and Fabiano is yummy even in fantasy. If Ronnie pulls up his socks for Milan will he be included in Dunga's World Cup plans? And what if El Phenomenon himself continues to improve and get in shape with Corinthians? Will Dunga be flexible enough to ignore even Ronaldo's form?

Whatever, he does from here, one can't help get the feeling that Brazil need a plan B. They won't need it too often (they are that good with Plan A) but maybe in a quarter-final against Germany, they may find themselves two down with fifteen minutes to go. How will they strike back then? Or maybe they will. Maybe in Kaka they have a readymade plan B. While over the last year it has gone a little out of fashion to mention Kaka's name as the world's best player, see him in the Brazilian shirt and you will find it difficult to find another player who single handedly has that kind of an impact on the entire team, Stevie G included. And perhaps that is why somewhere, as Maradona spends his time biting his nails, Dunga sleeps comfortably, thinking of the fun times ahead in South Africa.