SAO PAULO - Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari is worried the street protests that are planned during the World Cup could hurt his teams chances of winning the title. Scolari says that although Brazilians have the right to complain about the government and demand improvements, perhaps the protests wont be coming at the "right time." He said the protests "could, big-time" affect his players performance during the World Cup, although he will not prohibit them from talking about the subject during the tournament. In an interview with Globo TV late Sunday, Scolari also said Brazil should have done a better job in its preparations for the World Cup, and said he has already made up his mind on 21 of the 23 players of his squad. Violent anti-government protests erupted across Brazil last year as people took to the streets calling for better services and questioning the billions being spent on hosting the World Cup and the 2016 Rio Olympics. The protests have since diminished in size, but they are widely expected again in the run-up to this years football tournament. "I think the protests can happen," Scolari said. "If they are peaceful, then thats democracy. Everyone has the right to protest. But I dont know if its the right time." The coach had already tried to distance the national team from the protests during last years Confederations Cup, when the largest public demonstrations in a generation broke out at the start of the warm-up tournament. Protests happened in all six host cities at the time, although matches and teams were not directly affected as Brazil went on to win the title. The players openly talked about the protests last year and the coach said they will be allowed to do it again during the World Cup. "They are national team players and they are on a mission," he said. "They can express themselves and say look, I also want a better Brazil, but I dont want it to be something that causes problems to our environment." Scolari also criticized Brazils preparations for the World Cup, saying that the country wasted time and should have done more to get things ready more quickly. "We could have done a better job to take advantage of these seven years that we had to prepare everything that was going to be needed, from airports to roads to education," he said. "But we lost time and we now we are out of time." Scolari last week confirmed nine players who will make Brazils squad — David Luiz, Oscar, Ramires, Willian, Paulinho, Julio Cesar, Thiago Silva, Fred and Neymar — and on Sunday he said there are only two spots remaining in the team. "We are still making observations, there are a lot of things we are still looking at," he said. Scolari will announce the official 23-man squad on May 7. Seven possible alternates will be announced later. Brazil will play friendlies against Panama and Serbia just before the World Cup opener against Croatia on June 12. Dwight Powell Jersey . "Ive got a lot of work to do on this team and the sooner that I can get back to my office and start that work, itll be better," he said straight-faced as the rest of the room erupted in laughter. DeAndre Jordan Jersey .com) - On a night the Bulls played without Derrick Rose, it was time for Pau Gasol to take charge. http://www.officialmavericksfanstore.com...vericks-jersey/. Watch the action live on TSN and listen on TSN 1050 Radio beginning at 7pm et/4pm pt. The Raptors maintained their spot atop the Atlantic Friday after defeating the Wizards, 96-88, for their second win in a row. Steve Nash Jersey .Y. -- First, Ryan Miller. Jalen Brunson Jersey . It has been eleven years, eight months, and 261 days since I played my last CFL game.(SportsNetwork.com) - The New Orleans Pelicans once again become road warriors on Friday as they travel to the Target Center to face the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Pelicans played one game in the Big Easy following a five-game road trip. New Orleans went 2-3 on that trip with wins over the Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons and losses to the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks. On Wednesday, the Pelicans returned home and defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, 96-80. Anthony Davis, who was named a starter for the Western Conference All-Star team, had 29 points and eight rebounds as the Pelicans pulled away from the Lakers in the fourth quarter. Davis returned from a three-game absence with a toe injury. Eric Gordon posted 17 points, 10 assists and five rebounds, while Tyreke Evans added 19 points for the Pelicans, who outscored the Lakers 27-12 in the fourth to turn the game into a rout. We just love Gordons floor game, having 10 assists was huge for us, Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. New Orleans scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter to grab a 10- point cushion at the 8:32 mark. The Lakers never got within less than eight the rest of the way. Following Fridays contest, the Pelicans head home for a six-game residency. The Timberwolves have lost two straight since winning two of threee.dddddddddddd Minnesota has dropped nine straight at home and hasnt won at the Target Center since Dec. 10 against the Portland Trail Blazers. On Wednesday, the home losing streak reached nine with a 98-75 setback at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. Andrew Wiggins paced the Timberwolves with 18 points, with Thaddeus Young tallying 14 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in defeat. Nikola Pekovic, playing his first game since Minnesotas loss in Dallas on Nov. 15, had 14 points in 23 minutes in his return. The Mavericks hit on 11-of-27 shots from beyond the arc. Minnesota, in contrast, went a poor 2-of-15 on 3-point tries and shot just 34.8 percent overall. It felt like we were playing with deflated balls tonight, Timberwolves head coach Flip Saunders joked in reference to the controversy surrounding the New England Patriots recent win in the AFC Championship Game. We couldnt shoot at all tonight. The Timberwolves might be getting some reinforcements soon in the form of Kevin Martin. He has practiced for almost a week and is listed as questionable for Friday. There is no return timetable for Ricky Rubio or Shabazz Muhammad. The Pelicans beat the T-wolves in New Orleans on Nov. 14 and have taken two straight versus Minnesota. The Timberwolves are 4-0 in their last four as the host in this series. 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