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With champions Germany out, Argentina only
scraping through, and Spain in turmoil, many see Brazil as the
clear favorites to lift the World Cup in Moscow on July 15.
But moments after they beat Serbia 2-0 to secure a quarter-final
date with Mexico, the wily coach was once again playing down
expectations.
"Expectations? We don't live by expectations, we live by
reality," Tite said. "(We live by) a team that mentally deals
with the pressure, is balanced, that has replacement parts for
important moments."
"You have to have a strong team. If the players didn't have all
this preparation then we'd surely not see this kind of
performance."
"Your situation," he told reporters, "like gamblers, is not our
situation. Ours is looking to grow."
Brazil's performance against Serbia was their best so far and
guaranteed them a date with Mexico in Samara on Monday.
Tite revealed Brazil's first division clubs had helped the
national side by having their performance analysts research all
32 nations in the tournament and write detailed reports for his
backroom staff.
That assistance will be crucial against a talented but
inconsistent Mexican side that have gone from beating Germany
1-0 in their opener to losing 3-0 to Sweden in their final group
game.
"We are going to begin studying on the plane (back to our base
camp"," Tite's assistant Cleber Xavier told reporters.
"They are a strong rival that beat Germany and Korea and
qualified at the expense of Germany. For us, the thing is to
know Mexico inside out so we can outline our expectations."
(Reporting by Andrew Downie; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
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