Brazilian journalists on Tuesday attacked plans to stage a friendly match between the Brazil national team and Japanese club Tokyo Verdy 1969 at Tokyo Stadium on May 26.
Prominent daily O Estado de Sao Paulo strongly criticized the fixture between the four-time world champion and the J. League club.
"This is another example of the insanity the national team has been subjected to over the last few years," said sports journalist Silvio Barsetti.
Barsetti added the game will be an opportunity for the unsettled Brazilian team to finally triumph again after an unexpected 1-0 defeat against Ecuador in Quito and a hapless 1-1 home draw with Peru.
"Coach Leao's efforts to hold the friendly are as unpleasant as the actual match itself," he said, questioning the real motives behind the Brazilian coach's reported insistence on playing Verdy.
Leao, who coached the Tokyo club in 1996 when the team was called Verdy Kawasaki, has recently said he does not hold fond memories of the time he spent there and still resents the way he left the Japanese club, which is currently at the bottom of the J. League standings.
The article suggests the Brazilian team should have lined up a game against the stronger and more popular Kashima Antlers. Former star player Zico, currently the Antlers' technical director, is a fierce critic of the Brazilian Soccer Federation.