Some time after midnight tonight, Brazil begin an 18-match World Cup qualifying marathon when they line out to play Colombia in the opening game of a 10-country, round-robin group that sees Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador and Uruguay fighting for at least four if not five places in the 2002 finals.
CONMEBOL, the South American Confederation, has opted for a format which sees all the biggest powers in their continent play one another. Rather than a seeding arrangement which would, at the very least, have put Brazil and Argentina into two different groups, CONMEBOL has been attracted by the lure of big bucks for the TV rights.
This is not all bad news. On the one hand, the qualifying round will gain in competitive intensity while the armchair satellite TV viewer (and soccer pundit) will get a intriguing glimpse of South America's best in direct confrontation.
On the other hand, however, the 18 match marathon will put a severe strain on players' minds and bodies.
An indication of that strain is already clear from the difficulties encountered by Brazil coach Wanderley Luxemburgo as he prepares for tonight's game. Luxemburgo's preparations (and those of his South American colleagues) have been further undermined by FIFA's decision to allow European clubs to release their South Americans four and not five days before this week's qualifiers. FIFA took that decision earlier this month under pressure from the Italian and Spanish leagues, who both subsequently moved forward their weekend programmes so that their massed ranks of South Americans could play in important league fixtures last weekend.
Brazil have been doubly penalised by this decision. In the first place, two key players, Barcelona's FIFA Player of the Year Rivaldo and AS Roma right back Cafu, both picked up weekend injuries that have ruled them out of tonight's game. In the second place, Luxemburgo has precious little time to prepare for this match with those players who do travel.
At least Luxemburgo is better off than his Argentinian colleague Marcelo Bielsa who discovered late on Saturday night that Fiorentina striker and Argentinian captain Gabriel Batistuta had missed his connection to Buenos Aires because he had been held up at the routine post-match dope test after Fiorentina's 2-1 win against Perugia on Saturday afternoon. Batistuta finally arrived in Argentina yesterday morning for tomorrow night's difficult opening qualifier at home to Chile.
Mention of Chile, too, underlines the stress on players, physically and psychologically. Chile's most famous name, striker Marcelo Salas, has already made it clear to his team coach, Nelson Acosta, that he will not be available for all of Chile's qualifying games. Under huge pressure from his Italian club, Lazio, Salas has opted to play "only in the important matches" against Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.
