By Tim Vickery BBC Sport Online

Carlos Alberto Parreira did it. Now Luiz Felipe Scolari has done it. And both are agreed: guiding Brazil through World Cup qualification is much harder than taking them to the title.

It might seem an extraordinary claim, but it is borne out by both facts and performances.

Brazil struggled mightily to book their place in the World Cups of 1994 and 2002. And on both occasions then proved themselves the best side in the tournament.

Brazil crowned world champions

If qualification has become more difficult than the World Cup, then this is in part due to the nature of contemporary South American football.

The game has spread north from its original southern strongholds of Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil.

Colombia are the current champions of the Copa America tournament.

Ecuador have become a force, and now Venezuela have made the breakthrough there is no longer a match in South America where the away team have a guaranteed three points.

Chile finished bottom of the table in the 2002 qualifiers, but on the way they beat Brazil 3-0.

Colombia are Copa America champions

Rivalries are fierce and there are factors such as altitude and temperature change to take into account.

No other continent has a qualifying campaign as competitive as South America's.

Brazil's difficulties in making it through the minefield also reflect some purely domestic factors.

There are times when having so many players to choose from can be a curse - immediately after a defeat, for example.

The media pressure for change is intense. Brazil used 62 players in the last qualifying campaign.

Some are flying back from Europe, others are the flavour of the month in local football. They hardly know each other, so it is little wonder that they struggle to act as a team.

In a World Cup everything is different. The options are restricted to the squad of 23 and there is time for the players to gel.

And, crucially in both 1994 and this year, Brazil's magnificent group of physical trainers and doctors had long enough with the players to get them performing at their athletic peak.

These reflections are pertinent because South America is on the point of introducing permanent World Cup qualifying.

The continent's administrators will ask Fifa for permission to start the 2006 campaign next August, less than 14 months after the final whistle was blown in Japan.

Brazil, of course, will be included. This time there is no automatic place for the World Cup holders. They will have to earn their passage to Germany.

Brazil captain Dunga was off the pace at France '98

Ronaldo and company have much to gain from this change. Part of the difficulty of retaining the World Cup has been the lack of competitive games in which to rebuild or refresh the side.

These very problems helped derail Brazil's France 98 campaign.

By the end of the tournament veteran midfielder Dunga could hardly catch his opponent even to kick him.

The Brazil camp knew their captain would run out of gas, but seeing no alternative shut their eyes and hoped for the best.

Now Brazil have 18 games in front of them. Players who have passed their best can be weeded out. Replacements can be groomed in testing conditions.

It should mean that Brazil will be strong candidates to retain their title in 2006, providing, of course, that they make it through qualification.