Lucas Moura: Brazil still adapting to life without former stars

Posted Tuesday, September 25, 2012 by Goal.com

The winger admits without the likes of Ronaldo and Rivaldo to fall back on, the new Selecao are finding it difficult to draw inspiration in high-pressure situations

Lucas Moura believes Brazil's struggles to impose themselves on the international stage can be attributed to the side still trying to adapt to life without their experienced stars.

The Selecao under Mano Menezes have been criticised for their failure to live up to the hype warranted by some of their most prodigious young talents, with a dismal 2011 Copa America being followed up by defeat in the final of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

However, an injury-time Neymar penalty earned the country a 2-1 victory over arch-rivals Argentina last week, and the Sao Paulo winger, who will join Paris Saint-Germain in January, concedes the team face an arduous task in picking up from where their predecessors left off.

"People are a little impatient I guess, we are performing well but we had a difficult time against Argentina, because it was a complicated match," Lucas told Goal.com.

"They kept themselves behind the ball at all times and waited for us to attack. But we worked hard to find spaces, and we were rewarded with the late penalty scored by Neymar.

"I know that the Selecao isn't having its best moments, Mano Menezes is still looking for a way to make this team click. I always said that before you had players like Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Cafu, who were the 'face' of the Brazilian squad.

"But this isn't happening anymore, and we have to get something similar from the current generation. It's not a simple task regaining the the supporters' trust, but they will play a big part in our World Cup campaign."

Lucas agreed a reported €45 million switch to PSG in August, and he is relishing the prospect of playing alongside world-renowned stars such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and compatriot Thiago Silva.

"It's a fine opportunity to grow as a player and as a person," he added. "That's the sort of thing that I want to experience; to know that I can be on the same side as Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, [Gregory] van der Wiel, [Ezequiel] Lavezzi and [Javier] Pastore."