Brazil wasnt esp. good in 2008 WGP either, but they crushed in the OG anyway so the results here might not be too important obviously. But whats much more worrying for the samba team is that many of their main players not been in good shape for long time or comes from bad last seasons like Matthias already explained.
I think that the present situation is not the same with 2008WGP.
At that time,Brazil also crushed their performance 5 matches in a row(3-0,3-1) in 2008WGP final.
And thier performance was obviously way better than now.
They played with a lot of combinations,speed,fierce attack.
Mari,Sheilla,Paula were unstoppable.