Sebastiao Lazaroni knows a fair bit about polishing rare pearls, the current Brazil coach and high-stakes showdowns with Argentina. He nurtured the career of a mega-hyped youngster named Romario, made Dunga an automatic in the Seleção’s engine room and, after masterminding a defeat of La Albiceleste in the final round of the Copa America 1989, saw his side suffer a Diego Maradona-concocted loss in the Round of 16 at the next FIFA World Cup™.
Lazaroni believes Brazil face a stern examination in Buenos Aires tonight. The 65-year-old nevertheless reckons that, while Russia 2018 may come a little too soon for what he calls “another golden generation” – just as Italy 1990 did for Dunga and Romario – Qatar 2022 will climax with five stars becoming six and Neymar established as the biggest star on the planet. The 23-year-old forward, who scored a wonder goal for Barcelona against Villarreal earlier this week, will return from an international suspension against Argentina.
“Brazil’s performance in Buenos Aires is very important in the long term,” Lazaroni toldwww.sc.qa, pointing to that aforementioned 2-0 Copa America victory, which gave a platform to rising talents Bebeto and Romario, the two marksmen. “It is the first chance for our talented youngsters to blend as a group.
“Another golden Brazilian generation is emerging with Neymar, Oscar, Lucas Moura, Philippe Coutinho, Willian, Roberto Firmino and Douglas Costa. They will achieve full maturity as a group, with Neymar as leader, by Qatar 2022, and could win the country’s sixth World Cup title. I think Russia 2018 might come a bit too soon for them. Dunga’s role will be to foster the golden generation into a team unit.
“They are all in their early-20s and can follow in the footsteps of Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaka, who won the fifth title in 2002. With the World Cup returning to Asia in 2022, it is the perfect timing for the next golden generation to bring home the sixth title, what we call in Brazil the hepta. It would be a fantastic occasion to win with the Middle East hosting the region’s first ever World Cup. The people of the region will lift Brazil just as it did in South Korea and Japan in 2002.” 

The best time to begin the process of rebuilding after 2014, according to Lazaroni, would be against Argentina, who are still a formidable side at home despite missing Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero to injury and having had a difficult start to Russia 2018 qualifying.

“Argentina are a strong side even without Messi and Aguero,” said the man who was appointed for a second stint at Qatar Sports Club last month. “They have several marvelous offensive players, especially Angel Di Maria, and are a strong defensive unit as we saw in Brazil 2014, when they finished runners-up. They always have the hunger to win against Brazil. Neymar and his team-mates will be tested by the Argentinians on their own turf, and this experience will help the youngsters in the future.”

Lazaroni believes Neymar, scorer of 46 goals in 67 internationals, will be at the peak of his mercurial powers in 2022: “According to statistics, Neymar is better than Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo when they were at a similar age. He will be at the peak of his technical prowess in Russia 2018. Players normally start reaching full maturity when they are between 26 and 28. In 2022, Neymar will be 30 and the complete package as a player. While he will still be a force to reckon with technically, he will be more mature than in Russia.”

First up for Neymar and Co, though, is work in the Argentinian capital, which sent Lazaroni on a trip down memory lane.
“We had dominated the game, but lost by a goal scored by Claudio Caniggia off a brilliant Maradona assist,” he reminisced ruefully of that clash at the Stadio Delle Alpi in Turin. “We had so many chances and our forwards just couldn’t find the back of the net. As they say in Brazil, the ball will punish you if you make mistakes. Argentina were happy defending and relying on Maradona to produce a moment of magic. This is exactly what happened.”

Brazil can take heart that Argentina’s modern maestro will not be around to do an encore at the Monumental.