Brazil = The Los Angeles Lakers

Mané Garrincha, the "Angel with Bent Legs."
Though less "successful" than teammate Pelé, he is
arguably more beloved

Elgin Baylor. In college, he led Seattle University (!!!) to the Final Four

Name a statistic that reflects dominance in world football and Brazil probably leads it. This year's host nation has won more World Cup titles than any other country (5), and is the only team to win World Cups on 4 different continents (if you consider Europe and Asia separate continents, which Eurocentric FIFA does). Like the Lakers, Brazilians pride themselves not only on beating you, but on playing with style and flair as they do it. "Showtime"'s equivalent in Brazil is "joga bonito" (literally "play beautifully"). Both teams wear distinctive yellow jerseys and have featured a veritable who's who of their respective sports' all time greatest players... most of whom can be identified with just a single moniker. Elgin, Jerry, Wilt, Magic, Kareem, Shaq, Kobe. Pelé, Garrincha, Sócrates, Romário, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho.

Unfortunately, Brazil hasn't really played "joga bonito" since they were knocked out of the 1982 and 1986 World Cups by allegedly more "pragmatic" sides. In the years since, Brazilian football has become far less attacking and technical, and far more defensive, physical, and (for lack of a better word) "corporate." Grantland ran a great piece on this and similar themes the other day. (TL ; DR: for all his successes on the field, Pelé has become a shill for whoever will pay him, including horribly corrupt Brazilian governments.) In another similarity Lakers fans can relate to, Brazil's team selections have reflected poor scouting and management in recent years. Due to a number of political issues with players' agents and Brazilian club owners, the simplified version of what happens is that players from the Brazilian domestic league (which would be maybe the 6th best league in Europe, and that's being very charitable) are wildly overrated, while Brazilians who play in Europe for any team outside the Barcelona - Real Madrid - Bayern Munich super-elite level are wildly underrated.

Case in point: Atlético Madrid. The Colchoneros (literally "mattress makers") had a season for the ages this year, and they have 3 players who arguably should be in the Seleçao's Starting XI, but instead aren't even on their roster. One is Diego Costa, who I talked about in my preview of Spain. Coach Gene Hackman... I mean Luiz Felipe "Big Phil" Scolari chose Fred and Jo as Brazil's strikers for last summer's Confederations Cup, leaving Costa off the team. Yes, their names are Fred and Jo, and yes, Brazilian players with one-syllable Anglo-American sounding names are typically rubbish. Costa's game is versatile and adaptable; it's not like Scolari would've had to change the rest of the team to accommodate him. Three months later, Costa had a Spanish passport and signed up for La Furia Roja.

He coached basketball in Hoosiers and gridiron football in The Replacements. Now, he'll try his hand at fútbol! Gene Hackman is "Big Phil" Scolari in The Brazilian Connection!

On defense, Atléti center back Joao Miranda and left back Filipe Luis are arguably both better fits for Brazil than presumed starters David "Sideshow Bob" Luiz and Marcelo. Miranda vs. David Luiz and Filipe Luis vs. Marcelo are at least close calls, the differences between them are in style more than talent. The Atlético players are more defensively responsible, while Luiz and Marcelo can both fairly be described as "reckless." (Former England / Manchester United player Gary Neville once compared David Luiz's on-pitch decision-making to a "10-year-old with a playstation.") Far less debatable is leaving those two off the team entirely in favor of Maxwell and Henrique. 

Despite all this, Brazil still has an excellent shot at winning. They have enough talent to draw from that they can make a few shaky decisions and not be hurt by them. Plus, they'll have home field advantage as the hosts (though that also comes with a lot of pressure that could become a disadvantage if they stumble). Thiago Silva (no, not the UFC fighter), perhaps the world's best center back, can cover for David Luiz and Marcelo's more adventuresome tendencies. Dani Alves remains one of the world's best right backs at both ends of the pitch. They have a solid, if unspectacular, cast of midfielders to pressure opponents and create chances on the counter. And leading the attack, the Seleçao's latest one-name phenom is Neymar, who despite being just 22 years old will be wearing the legendary number 10 shirt and has the host nation's hopes riding largely on his shoulders.

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior

*Tangent-- you'll probably hear some of the commentators talk about how Neymar had a "bad" or "disappointing" season with Barcelona. To borrow a line from Colonel Sherman T. Potter, that is "horse hockey." Unlike most people spouting that opinion, I watched more than 3 Barça matches this season. Talk to me on the side if you want to hear more on the subject, but this post is already too long.

Neymar, love him or hate him (and there are plenty in both camps), is a brilliant talent. Brazil's fate will likely hinge on whether he gets enough help up front from the likes of Fred, Jo, Hulk, and Oscar.