By DPA,
Rio de Janeiro : Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar said Friday he was “really annoyed” about the praise that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva lavished on Argentine striker Lionel Messi.
“It made me very sad as a Brazilian citizen, especially because I voted for him. I read about it and it really annoyed me,” Cesar said. “I think he should be naturalized as an Argentine and go and live there.”
The Brazilian team was in Teresopolis, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, preparing for a crucial away game against Chile Sunday.
“When I see Messi – who is the best player in the world in my opinion – lose the ball, he runs off until he gets it back or commits a foul. Our guys lose the ball and fold their arms,” Lula was quoted as saying Thursday by Brazilian daily Folha de Sao Paulo in their online edition.
The president complained that players in the current Brazil squad “don’t have a soul”.
Brazil coach Carlos Dunga also commented on Lula’s remarks.
“Of course we would like to have his support, his motivation at a time like this, (we would want) him to be on Brazil’s side,” Dunga said.
The coach admitted that there is “great rivalry” between neighbours Brazil and Argentina, but he used their recent record to boost his team’s confidence.
“Argentina has not won a title since 1993, while Brazil has since won two editions of the Copa America, two editions of the Confederations Cup and a World Cup,” Dunga said.
Argentina – with a junior team built around senior team stars like Lionel Messi – has just won its second consecutive Olympic gold medal. Brazil failed to get its first ever Olympic football gold in Beijing 2008 and had to settle for bronze after a lacklustre performance.
In the South American qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Argentina is currently second with 11 points in six games, while Brazil trails in fifth place with nine points.
If the qualifiers were to end today, Brazil – the winner of five editions of the World Cup – would need to win a playoff against a team from North, Central America and the Caribbean in order to secure a place in South Africa 2010.