Brazilian coach Dunga, second from right, will try to lead his country to glory in South Africa. (Alejandro Pagni/Associated Press)

Brazil has historically been seen as the spiritual guardian of the beautiful game.

Thanks to the efforts of legendary players such as Pele and Garrincha, the Selecao have won a record five World Cups by playing a free-flowing and stylish brand of soccer predicated on the samba, a lively and rhythmical dance of Brazilian origin.

For Brazil, the ends don't justify the means. Results must be achieved by joga bonito (playing beautifully), otherwise they are meaningless. Victory at this year's World Cup in South Africa will be of secondary concern to the Brazilians — putting on a show for the fans, like always, will be their primary objective.

Don't believe the myth. It's pure fantasy. Brazil has its eyes firmly set on the prize.

Winning all that matters

"Brazil is a country that has been mythologized both from within and afar, and sometimes you have to strip back that myth in order to get at the truth, and the truth is that winning is all that matters to Brazilians," Tim Vickery, a Rio-based reporter and expert on South American soccer, told CBCSports.ca.

To be sure, Brazil was once known for a playing style heavy on flair and entertainment value, but times change and today they are guided by a sense of pragmatism. As soccer has become more globalized, the lines that once delineated the strategic differences between teams such as Brazil and Italy, once renowned for playing a dour defensive style known as catenaccio, have become blurred.

"It's a very old-fashioned way of looking at things because Brazilians don't play samba football any more than Italians play catenaccio. Those days are gone," Rome-based soccer journalist Paddy Agnew explained.

"The Brazil team of today is full of players who have made their names and reputations playing in Europe, playing a very organized and sensible game."

Brazil will head to South Africa as one of the tournament favourites, having finished first place in the gruelling South American qualifiers, officially punching their ticket for the World Cup with an emphatic 3-1 win in Argentina against their bitter rivals.

Needless to say, hopes are running high amongst Brazilian fans that their heroes will be able to win the World Cup for a sixth time.

"There's more than confidence that Brazil can win the World Cup, there's the expectation that Brazil will win the World Cup," Vickery stated. "Anything else will be regarded as failure. Brazil is a country where losing in the final can be the worst thing that happens because everyone sees it and crisis ensues."

Parliamentary inquiries

Indeed, a national inquiry was launched after Brazil was humiliated 3-0 by France in the 1998 World Cup final in Saint-Denis. Ronaldo suffered a seizure hours before the game and was rushed to a local hospital before making a miraculous recovery.

After originally being left off the team's starting lineup, Ronaldo hastily made his way to the stadium, only to under-perform in Brazil's heaviest defeat ever at the World Cup.

In the aftermath, Brazil's government held parliamentary inquiries, calling upon coaches, team officials and doctors, and players (including Ronaldo) to testify as to what happened and why the Inter Milan star was allowed to play in such an important game when he clearly was not fit.

The weight of expectations on the shoulders of Brazil's national team players is immense, and it won't lighten until they emerge victorious at this year's World Cup.

"If you look at the repercussions of that loss to France in 1998, there were talks about it in Congress, so that's the pressure Brazil deals with at every World Cup," Vickery explained.