Japan Football Association Interview Zico

Japan Football Association: "Q: Do you think this coming World Cup will be different from those you were involved in as a player before?

Zico: When I was a player, Brazil was always regarded as a title favorite and we actually went for the title in each tournament. I am taking this coming tournament in the same way.
If you don't have a strong determination for winning the tournament, you could face a setback halfway through. You should be mentally strong to the very end, and I see that mental strength in our players.
I think mental strength is the factor that separates teams between winners and losers in the World Cup. I'd like to remind our players why we have worked so hard up to now. We should focus on each match and keep our strong determination to the very end.

Q: Which World Cup do you remember most?

Zico: I first played in the 1978 tournament. But that ended in an unconvincing manner after Brazil went out on goal difference despite the fact that we were unbeaten, and also the result of the Peru-Argentina match was hard for us to contend with. In 1982, Brazil was regarded as the strongest team ever and people talked about us as a dream team. In fact, each one of us had high individual skills. However, we were missing something and couldn't win the tournament. In 1986, I went to the tournament although I was injured and I did as much as I could.
Then I took part in the 1998 event as a technical coordinator for Brazil. But our plans fell apart when our leading striker (Ronaldo) suffered a health problem in the final.

Q: What did you learn from your 1998 experience?

Zico: We had many problems one after another at the time. I learned that you should make a decision as soon as a problem occurs and you should place yourself in a situation to make a decision. Also, you cannot win a World Cup even if your squad is made up entirely of world-class players. You've got to have force as a unit or organizational strength to go through a big tournament like the World Cup."