SINGAPORE: Brazilian coach, Carlos Dunga, is keeping most of his cards close to his chest for Monday's exhibition match against a Singapore Selection.

From team tactics to formation and line-up, the Brazilians are keeping everything under wraps. However, the coach did reveal that Ronaldinho will be leading the team on the field at the National Stadium.

The Brazilians have been training for the past three days since their arrival in Singapore. This trip is part of their tune-up for the Olympics and so far, preparations have been good.

Ahead of the match on Monday, Brazil's coach said his team will be viewing tapes of the Singapore team in action to familiarise themselves with their opponents' moves.

He said: "The captain will be Ronaldinho as he is with the main Brazilian team and was also the captain for the main Brazilian team. For the players who will be fielded, it will depend on the training today. Of course, I will field my best players for the match."

As for the Singapore team, their coach, Raddy Avramovic, said the players need no motivation to play with the best footballers in the world. However, he emphasised that Singapore would not play a defensive game or man-mark the football celebrities.

He said: "No, we don't concentrate on any individual because if you look at them, each of them can do something special in each game. Each of them can do something to win games."

The coach also urged Singaporeans to support the team as it will be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to watch the mighty Brazilians play.

About one-third of the tickets to the exhibition match have already been sold for the 60,000-capacity stadium. All 2,000 discounted tickets for students – priced at S$15 each – have been snapped up, so the organisers are releasing another 3,000 for sale from Sunday.

Organisers are also selling some 10,000 tickets at half price for gallery seats behind the two goal posts.


- CNA/so