Dunga’s Seleção near record books... for wrong reasons
Saturday 06 September 2008 08:00
Dunga’s Seleção can make history this Sunday in their World Cup qualifier match against Chile. Too bad it'll be for all the wrong reasons.
If Brazil don’t score against Chile, it will only be the second time that the Seleção, in its almost centennial history, go scoreless in four consecutive matches. The squad already missed the few chances they created against Venezuela (0-2), Paraguay (0-2) and Argentina (0-0).
The only time that has happened to date was in 1991, courtesy of the oh so unmemorable Seleção of coach Falcão. Then, a defeat to Spain (0-3) in his first game and three goalless draws (with Mexico and Chile, twice) doomed the former Roma king. 10 games later, he was fired and became a TV pundit – a position he holds to this day.
Like Falcão in his last games as a coach, Dunga is a dead man walking, as I’ve already noted in this blog. The question is when - not if - he’ll get the boot.
Bad results against Chile and at home against Bolivia next Wednesday will probably seal his fate – some say he’ll be hanging till the end of the year, when Vanderlei Luxemburgo will leave Palmeiras and take over the Seleção.
Marcelo Bielsa’s Chile’s are a treacherous side. They’re currently 3rd in the qualifying table (Brazil are 5th) and rely on their offensive front three – Gonzales, Suazo and Sanchez. To feed them, “El Loco” Bielsa has two fantastic options: Matias Fernandez or Jorge Valdivia, the former Palmeiras player who was one of the main stars of Brazilian football before he upped sticks to UAE’s Al Ain a month ago.
On Brazil’s side... well, the same thing. It’s Dunga trademark as a coach. 11 players, no tactics, no game plan. Each player has to show what they've got. Unfortunately for the fans, they’ve been failing to do so on a regular basis.
With or without Dunga, it’s time for them to step up.
One goal. Come on, it’s not that hard.
or
to add your comments
About Celso de Campos Jr
Celso de Campos Jr is a São Paulo born writer and journalist. Back in 2002, he wrote his first piece for
FourFourTwo - a small Brazilian Championship preview. Unsurprisingly, the team he picked as champion ended up in the relegation zone. With such awesome football knowledge, he has been
FourFourTwo's man in Brazil for the past eight years.