July 23 – In what many are commenting is a backward step, Brazil have as expected turned to Dunga for a second spell in charge of the national team in succession to Luiz Felipe Scolari two weeks after the 7-1 hammering by Germany in the World Cup semi-finals.
Dunga captained Brazil to their fourth world title in 1994 but, as coach, was sacked in 2010 for failing to take them further than the World Cup quarter-finals in South Africa despite having won the 2007 Copa America and the 2009 Confederations Cup.
“I am immensely happy to be back,” he told reporters. “I have an outline of what I want. Fans know me and they know I am not going to sell a dream but a reality and that reality is we have to work hard.”
Dunga acknowledged Brazil have fallen behind the leading European teams in recent years and warned fans not to expect cavalier football as he tries to plot the country’s resurgence.
“Managers today organise the defence in order to be able to attack,” he said. “The important thing is not to have four or five players up front, it is to get forward with four or five players. Everyone needs to participate.”
Some critics called for a foreign manager and Dunga acknowledged he will have a tough task winning over fans, with online polls showing a large majority against his appointment. His first match in charge will be against Colombia in Miami in early September.
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