THE GROUP of Death is beginning to feel like the Group of Dead Rubber, writes DANIEL TAYLORin Durban.

Brazil have already been spared the guillotine and, with Portugal all but certain of survival, it is difficult to escape the sense that, when the two sides convene beside the Indian Ocean in Durban this afternoon, a game that was billed as the most glamorous of the group stages may have lost some of its stardust.

Brazil versus Portugal, in any circumstances, is going to be more than an average football match – “a football show,” was the description applied by the Portuguese coach, Carlos Queiroz – but both teams could be forgiven for basing their planning on the next stage of the competition.

The only plausible debate is who wins Group G – with Portugal enjoying a three points and nine goals cushion over third place Ivory Coast, who face North Korea in Nelspruit – and the most interesting part of the pre-match managerial conferences yesterday had nothing to do with what could happen today but concerned Dunga issuing a public apology for calling a television reporter a “donkey” and a “wimp” after Brazil’s 3-1 defeat of Ivory Coast.

Dunga, incensed by the red card which means Kaka will be suspended against the Portuguese, had taken exception to the journalist apparently pulling a face when the coach responded to questions about Luis Fabiano’s handball goal by praising the forward’s performance. As well as a flurry of expletives, Dunga confronted the journalist at the end of the conference. Fifa had looked into whether it merited opening a disciplinary case before concluding that no action should be taken.

“I would like to apologise to the Brazilian fans,” Dunga said. “Like all Brazilians, all I want to do is win. I want the best for the Brazilian team and I apologise for any expression that I might have made that was inappropriate. I know I was wrong.”

The manager’s relationship with the Brazilian media has been fraught during this tournament, with several media blackouts imposed, but the mood on this occasion was forgiving. Dunga’s father, Edelceu, is seriously ill in Brazil with Alzheimer’s disease and the coach spoke of the strain.

“He has been ill for some time and this is an opportunity for me to show the qualities he passed to me,” he said. “I have to be coherent, strong, dignified and transparent and I have to apologise when I make mistakes.”

Returning to football matters, Dunga acknowledged Brazil’s immaculate start to the competition – they are top of the group and have already guaranteed their progress into the last 16 – meant this was a game where he could feasibly rest players.

Similar questions were put to Queiroz, most notably whether he would take a calculated gamble and omit Cristiano Ronaldo on the basis that another yellow card would rule him out of their first knock-out game.

Queiroz’s response suggested he would not count his chickens even if he were to get a job on an egg farm. The objective, he said, was to guarantee their passage into the last 16 and he pointed out that, as yet, they were not arithmetically certain.

The inference from Queiroz was that Ronaldo would play, although it would not be a complete surprise if Portugal, like Brazil, make a number of changes.