Brazil´s Dunga not losing sleep over Drogba

Brazil coach Dunga said he will not single out the threat of Chelsea striker Didier Drogba when the South American giants face the Ivory Coast in Sunday’s World Cup match.

Ivory Coast captain Drogba is expected to start, or at least play part of the Group G clash at Johannesburg’s Soccer City, despite needing a cast to protect his broken right arm.

But Dunga said he will not plan his tactics around the Ivory Coast talisman, while the Brazilians have said they will query Drogba’s cast with the referee and FIFA.

“We know Drobga and we know his quality, but we can’t pay too much attention to one player, we have to look at the whole side,” said the 46-year-old who captained Brazil to the 1994 title.

Having encountered some dogged defence in the 2-1 win over North Korea in their opening World Cup match, Dunga anticipates an attack-orientated game against Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side boasting Chelsea stars Drogba and Salomon Kalou.

“It is going to be a totally different game, we expect both teams will attack, but the defenders will make it hard for the attackers to move forward,” he said.

“I am not sure so sure there will be so many opportunities.

“I think essentially, it will be a high-ball game and we will have to be more versatile and agile to cope. The Ivory Coast are organised and strong. They will want to attack us.”

Ivory Coast held Portugal to a goalless draw in their first game and Dunga expects the two sides’ talented individuals to make the difference.

“What will make the difference will be the technical qualities of the individual players,” he said.

“All the sides are well organised, but the individuals can make the difference.”

The Brazil coach refused to give away any clues which formation or players he will use, hinting Real Madrid’s Kaka may again not play the full 90 minutes.

“Kaka hasn’t played for some time and we have planned for his growth so it was forseeable that he wasn’t going to play the full 90 minutes against North Korea,” said Dunga.

“We believe the rhythm of his play is going to get even better and whether he can play for the full game, will depend on how high the tempo is against Ivory Coast.

“The North Koreans are very flexible and I used Robinho to attack them, but it changes from game to game, we have to look at the opposition and pick the best players to confront them.”

But having seen his star-studded attack stifled by the North Koreans for nearly an hour, Dunga said he expects his players to attack the spaces.

“There is no alternative, our way is to attack and all of the squad is at liberty to play to their full potential and we have to harness that,” he said.