Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense and Palmeiras are surprising the world and outperforming European teams in the Club World Cup. Meanwhile, other Brazilian coaches are watching the competition from afar and drawing conclusions about what is happening in American soil. ESPN spoke to some of the main national coaches to hear what each one is thinking about the competition and the Brazilian teams. They were almost unanimous in summarizing the tournament so far: the distance to Europe is far from being as large as everyone had imagined.

What Brazilian coaches are thinking about the World Cup? Muricy Ramalho, former coach and current technical coordinator of São Paulo "I'm enjoying it because we are seeing different schools of football philosophy. We had doubts about how far Brazilian football was from the Europeans, because Europe's investment is much higher. Of course, it's only the beginning, but Brazilian teams are showing in practice that the distance is smaller than everyone was talking about. Practice is different from theory. Brazilian teams are doing well." Mano Menezes, current coach of Grêmio "I find the World Cup very good, good to clarify a lot of things. As for the performance of the Brazilians, I see it as a confirmation of our technical quality and how climate and field difficulties can balance a dispute. The World Cup is also confirming that tactically our teams are well developed. It's very good to see Brazilian clubs playing against the main clubs in the world."

Cléber Xavier, current coach of Santos "The start of the South Americans is very good, right? As for the competition, I'll wait a little while to really see if it will bring any benefit, right? For me, the biggest problem is the wear and tear of the Europeans, right? The guys arrive dead after the end of the season there, it would be the guys' vacation. Most of these players from the big clubs are national team players. So they are players who do not stop on FIFA dates, they are always playing. This hampers the level of their performance a little. And that's what we've been living in Brazil for a long time. The drop in the quality of many games due to wear and tear. It's inhuman the wear and tear that some athletes have suffered from the number of games."

Vagner Mancini, current coach of Goiás "I'm enjoying the World Cup. Good games, different styles, good tactical variations, good technique. The Brazilians are doing very well, as I expected. An idea of inferiority to Europe was sold, but in reality we are managing to compete with them on equal terms."

Brazil vs. Europe in the World Cup So far, there have been four games between Brazilians and Europeans in the World Cup, with two draws and two victories. Even in the draws, however, the Brazilian teams were superior. Palmeiras 0 x 0 Porto Fluminense 0 x 0 Borussia Dortmund Botafogo 1 x 0 PSG Flamengo 3 x 1 Chelsea The four Brazilians reach the last round leading their groups. Flamengo is in the best position, with the qualification as the first place in their group already guaranteed.