Rich

With the World Cup about to begin in Brazil tomorrow, World Cup fever is certainly well upon us now, and with this in mind here is a 10K Brazil team that can be built in FIFA 14 Ultimate Team that features a number of Brazilian superstars that are set to feature in this summer’s tournament.

World Cup 2014 squad member Jefferson (Botafogo) can be found in goal, meanwhile in the back four are Felipe Luis (Athletico Madrid), Dante (Bayern Munich), Bamba Anderson (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Mariano (Bordeaux). Felipe Luis and Mariano offer pace down the flanks and are also extremely capable full-backs, Dante and Bamba Anderson meanwhile are both defensive titans at the centre of the defence that can stand up strongly to remove any danger and can also provide a strong aerial threat from set pieces.

In the middle of the park are Fernandinho (Man City) and Felipe Melo (Galatasaray) fulfilling central midfield duties, Roberto Firmino (Hoffenheim) meanwhile can be found slightly further up fulfilling the CAM role. Melo has strong all round stats and can defend strongly as well as shoot well from long range, Fernandinho and Firmino are less defensively minded however and tend to be at their strongest when on the attack. Fernandinho has a lethal shot on him, is pretty quick and also has good dribbling stats, Roberto Firmino meanwhile is not blessed with quite so much pace as Fernandinho but he does have 4 star skill moves and can therefore be incredibly effective if you choose to take the ball through the centre. All three of these players certainly have their uses and none of them are particularly expensive within the game either which makes them perfect squad players even if you’re not going to be starting with them.

On the left wing is Fernandinho (Atletico Mineiro), an incredibly talented player within the game that is for some reason available for discard price. Fernandinho only has a two star weak foot, despite this he can still score amazing goals with both his left and his right foot though, making him an absolute bargain of a player to have in your team. I’d have happily paid several thousand coins for Fernandinho, to get him for 600 is absolutely incredible though and if you have a Brazil team/are looking to set one up within the game then this is definitely a great player to have in your squad.

On the right wing, once again with a two star weak foot, is Hulk (Zenit). Hulk’s weak foot is definitely a lot more noticeable than Fernandinho’s, and the reason for this is that it’s his right foot that’s the weak one and this therefore makes crossing slightly problematic. Hulk has incredible strength and is brilliant for cutting in and scoring with, playing with him can perhaps be a little predictable at times though as you’re probably going to want to cut in with him a lot and the person you’re playing against will be able to see this coming a mile off if you do this too often throughout a match. Hulk is the most expensive player in the team at 2200 coins and can definitely be criticised in terms of his predictability when playing with or against him, due to his phenomenal strength he can usually hold on to the ball well though, and I’d definitely recommend having him in your team as he can certainly be a handful and cause a lot of problems.

As the lone striker in this team we have Alexandre Pato (Sau Paulo), formerly of AC Milan. Pato went back to Brazil in 2013 after a series of injuries at AC Milan limited his chances and forced him to look elsewhere for regular first team football. Pato used to be a regular for Brazil, he was left out of the World Cup squad in 2010 though and has again been left out in 2014 and it remains to be seen whether or not he can force his way back into the fold. Pato won a bronze medal with Brazil in the 2008 Olympics, a silver medal in 2012, and also won the Confederations Cup with Brazil in 2009. Not quite so highly rated as he once was as a teenage wonderkid, Pato is still only 24 years old and could still have a strong career ahead of him. He’s suffered some serious knock backs in reality, he’s still got considerable talent though, and in FIFA 14 Ultimate Team he is a really solid striker to play with.