What can you say about a team which boasts such established talent such as Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos plus rising stars Adriano, Kaka and Robinho?

Well, you can say that they are the team to beat and one of the favorites for the Confederations Cup and the World Cup in 2006.

However, the Brazilians have sometimes failed to fire on all cylinders in their qualification games and arrive in Germany missing a number of first choice players. Even without Roberto Carlos and Cafu, Brazil are a class act with an embarrassment of riches in almost every position.

Few teams can leave a player of Ronaldo's class out of the line-up and win a World Cup match 4-1 with a strike force made up of two forwards under the age of 24. That's the challenge facing the teams that come Brazil's way in the Confederations Cup.

However, the 3-1 defeat against Argentina in the recent World Cup qualifier shows that the current Brzail team is built very much on the 1970 model of overpowering offense, which leaves a shaky defense without the necessary holding midfielders. It also shows that Brazil are not invincible. (nda)