Simon Kuper, an expert on the business of football who is currently covering the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, recently put forward four reasons why one should bet against Brazil winning the 2014 World Cup.

1. Although all six previous World Cups that were held in Latin America were won by Latin American teams, this was between the years 1930-86 when European players used to arrive from these transoceanic ship journeys overfed and under-trained. Modern footballers now arrive much more at ease and ready for action.
2. A World Cup is so short that luck plays a big role, which often confounds favourites.
3. The team’s current personnel in no way matches the line-up that one Brazil’s last World Cup in 2002.
4. Lastly there is the Brazilian flaw that attackers don’t tire themselves out defending. That’s their weak point.

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