MATCH 11 PREVIEW : BRAZIL IN SERCH OF QUALIFICATION

After a less than convincing debut, despite the 1-nil win over Chile, Brazil are back on the pitch today, at 3 pm local time, for the Copa America. Carlos Alberto Parreira's side take on Costa Rica, who lost to Paraguay 1-nil in the opening round. The Group C match will be held in Arequipa.

If they beat Costa Rica, Brazil secure their spot in the quarterfinals as in the worst scenario, they would be 2nd best Third Place team overall. Manager Carlos Alberto Parreira, who stated the the opening match would be the toughest challenge of his squad, will make changes to the team who didn't please the coach. Midfielder Kleberson, recovered from injury, replaces Dudu Cearense, swapped for Diego in the first match. In attack, Ricardo Oliveira takes Adriano's place.

Colombian-born manager for Costa Rica, Jorge Luis Pinto, was pleased with his side's performance in the 1-nil loss to Paraguay. The coach, who made his on the Costa Rican team in the opening match, stated that he will field a defensive side to hold back Brazil while trying to catch them by surprise on the counter. The mysterious coach didn't disclose his lineup for the game against the Brazilians, but hinted that he will put striker Afonso Soliz in Ronald Gomez's place.

Brazil and Costa Rica met only once in the history of the Copa America. In 1997, in Bolivia, the Brazilians came away with a 5-nil victory, when Costa Rica were rookies in the competition. Ronaldo (brace), Djalminha, Romario and Gonzalez (own-goal) scored for Brazil. In their last encounter, Brazil also hammered their opposition. In the 2002 World Cup finals, the Brazilians, led by Luiz Felipe Scolari, were 5-2 winners.

Brazil: Júlio César, Mancini, Luisão, Juan and Gustavo Nery; Kléberson, Renato, Edu and Alex; Luís Fabiano and Ricardo Oliveira. Coach: Carlos Alberto Parreira

Costa Rica: Ricardo González, Try Bennett, Luis Marín, Mauricio Wright and Leonardo González; Cristian Badilla, Douglas Sequeira, Walter Centeno and Steven Bryce; Afonso Soliz and Andy Herrón. Coach: José Luis Pinto

Venue: Estádio Monumental da Universidade Nacional de Santo Agustin (Arequipa-PER)

Referee: Héctor Baldassi (ARG)

Assistant Referees: Juan Sulca (PER) e Dember Perdomo (COL)

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