Brazil's national football team has a busy schedule of friendlies, charity and exhibition matches. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab is just one of millions of admirers Even though it tripped up in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, to most people around the world, Brazil is the world champion. The country's drawing power remains so strong that the country of choice for any federation to play is not World Cup champions Italy but Brazil. Brazil's stars rewarded some 20,000 spectators with a majestic display last week Saturday to defeat Kuwait's league champions Al-Kuwait Sports Club 4-0 in a friendly international. The event, held in during the holy month of Ramadan, marked the club's 45th anniversary, the oldest club in Kuwait. Rafael Sobis scored the first goal in the 17th minute, and Real Madrid's Robinho added another in the 36th. Daniel Carvalho then made it 3-0 in the 53rd and AC Milan's Kaka scored the final goal in the 77th. Playing for the first time in the tiny oil-rich Gulf state, the five-time world champions, though missing renowned stars like Ronaldo and Adriano, found no difficulty in dominating the game from start to finish. Robinho remained the main threat to the inexperienced Al-Kuwait defenders until he was substituted after 50 minutes. The world's player of the year, midfielder Ronaldinho, entertained the crowds with some perfect passes before he was substituted at the interval. The Brazilians, who were cheered on by an enthusiastic crowd, missed several easy chances to increase the tally. Al-Kuwait Club came close to scoring twice, both from free kicks with the last one hitting the bar in injury time. President of the Kuwait Sports Club and MP Marzouk Al-Ghanim expressed happiness for hosting the Brazilian national team, "the world's best team ever," which was accompanied by the world's soccer legend Pele. In 1973, Pele visited Kuwait as a player for a match that grouped Brazil's Santos and Kuwait's Al-Qadissya. The match was held on sandy grounds when Kuwait's material capabilities and infrastructure resources were modest. Al-Ghanim said efforts were aimed at restoring Kuwait to its footballing name, "pearl of the Gulf". Kuwait was the first Gulf country to go to the World Cup in 1982. They were ousted in the first round following a 4-0 drubbing to France and Michel Platini. Kuwait also had a lock on the Gulf Cooperation Council trophy since its inception in 1971 for the first half-dozen years. Those waiting in line to play Brazil are many. After Kuwait, the team flew to Stockholm, Sweden, to play Ecuador. Switzerland and Brazil are slated on 15 November. Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri, the Brazilian national team's manager and better known as Dunga, announced that he would lead a special Brazilian team to play a 21 October game for UNICEF. The team will be made up of Brazilians playing in Germany while Brazil's rivals will be composed of a team of German soccer stars. The match is to be played in Dortmund. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Brazil's national soccer team could play an exhibition game in Lebanon to promote peace. Such a game would be similar to Egypt's match with Lebanon played last week in Cairo, the proceeds of which will be used to rebuild Lebanon's infrastructure, destroyed during the summer's 32-day war against Israel. Egypt, warming up against Botswana in a qualifying game for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana, overwhelmed Lebanon 7-0. Lebanon was playing with other Arab stars, including Saudi Arabia's Sami Al-Gaber, who has made four World Cup appearances. Silva, an ardent soccer fan, suggested that the former World Cup champion should play Lebanon during a Mideast tour next month. The team played a similar exhibition game in 2004 in Haiti, where Brazil leads a United Nations peacekeeping force. The team paraded through the streets of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, in a UN tank and was mobbed by delirious Haitian soccer fans. Brazil won the game 6-0.
