No more honours for Carlos Dunga as he gets punished for the World Cup 2010 failure
The Brazilian coach, Carlos Dunga, has a prestigious position in the Brazilian football history. He was the one who led his team to victory in the 1994 World Cup. The Brazilian defender had a great playing career, which ended with the highest achievement in the World of Football. However, he made his return to football, like many former players, as a coach of the National side, with the hopes of reliving the moments of history by winning the World Cup again.
Dunga did not have a bad run as a Brazilian coach; rather he had a good impression on a deteriorating squad. He led the team to victory in the Copa America in 2007 and FIFA Confederations Cup in 2009. Also, Brazilians were outplaying their archrivals, the Argentineans, in every field, which was a big boost to the Brazilian fans. Brazil also had a fine run in the Qualifying Round of the World Cup, as they lost only two matches while finishing on top of their South American group. Moreover, Dunga was able to reclaim the No. 1 spot for Brazil, in FIFA rankings, snatching it away from the brilliant Spanish side. Thus, Brazil were the favourites to win the World Cup in South Africa.
Dunga is famous for his pragmatic coaching style, as he makes a lot of difficult and risky tactical decisions, which seem to work for him every time. Despite being the favourites, Brazil were put in the most difficult group in the World Cup. However, they were ultimately the leaders after overcoming the challenges of Ivory Coast and Portugal. Dunga used excellent tactics to overcome Ivory Coast, who were playing on the African home soil, but he was criticised for his methods in the matches against North Korea and Portugal. Against North Korea, Brazil had the game in control by taking a double lead, after which Brazil took their foot off the paddle. They were then threatened by the Koreans who got a goal back, and looked more threatening after the Brazilians’ lost a little bit of concentration.
In the last group match, against Portugal, Brazil had already qualified for the next round and needed only one point to top the group as well. This was exactly the game plan for Brazil from the start, and it favoured Portugal as well, because one point would be enough to assure their place in the next round as well. Hence, Dunga made mistakes but he was not punished hard for his wrong tactics. In the second round match, against Chile, Dunga re-adopted the attacking style, thus beating Chile by a margin of 3-0.
The Quarter Final was another test for Dunga as a coach, as his side faced the un-beaten Netherlands. The attacking was sublime by the Brazilians in the first half, as they were able to get a goal as well. However, things changed in the second half, and it seemed that the coach was happy with one goal. The Brazilians went on the back foot for a while, which gave the Dutch clear chances to get back in the game. Ultimately, the Dutch won the match by 2-1, thus, eliminating the favourites from the World Cup.
Although, one can always say that Felipe Melo let his team and coach down, but in reality Dunga’s style of coaching was the problem. If the team is doing wonders in attacking, then there is never an excuse for the manager to go on the back-foot, as this always creates problems. Overall, Brazil had a great run throughout the World Cup, as they dominated their opponents, while only a short spell of slackness led to the ultimate disaster.
By blaming the manager once again, the Brazilian Football Federation has released Dunga from his charge as the head coach. There is no doubt that Dunga has a long and successful future ahead of him, as he would have learnt a lot from his World Cup experience. Right now, the 2002 World Cup winner for Brazil, Luiz Felipe Scolari is being tipped as the possible replacement.
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