The Countdown for the Departure of Dunga Has Started!
By: Bruno Romani | June 27th, 2007
There’s no way around it. In Brazil, football and the economy never do well at the same time. If they do happen, there’s no politics. So today I start a countdown to the departure of Dunga.
Game 1
Brazil debuted at the Copa America. Did I just say debuted? Dunga was on the bench for the first tournament game of his life. And yes, he showed signs of a virgin syndrome. In the first-half as he silently watched Mexico play as a team and his players as a group of wild animals, he sat trembling.
He started the game trying to shock Mexicans, with a surprise factor. And this man was goal-keeper Doni, who replaced HĂ©lton. Great! Never heard before of a goalie as a secret weapon. Not only Doni does not have the power to change the game in favor of Brazil, but also he is always to concede goals. To keep the tradition, he did it again, on the second-goal.
Before the two goals, the team was already mirroring the virginity of its coach. It was nervous, running a lot, and getting breathless for non-reason. To play fast does not mean to rush things. This is a huge difference, which virgin Dunga doesn’t seem to know. The team had no strategy, the midfield was dead, and the forwards ended up isolated from the rest of the team.
The second-half started with two unbelievable substitutions. Elano and Diego were replaced by Andersom and the unknown Afonso. Yes, Dunga put in two forwards, killing whatever the midfield that existed. He had 3 strikers, Robinho, Afonso and Vagner Love, and just Anderson to feed the 3.
The team, based solely on talent, improved with organization zero. It seemed they were all at a kinder garden dance presentation, with players moving without any harmony and still remaining at the same place. The keeper from Mexico played an amazing match, but the truth is that Mexico always seemed closer to the third than Brazil the first. As a good virgin, Dunga tried to show he could do it, but did not do well.
At the end, he did the usual, replacing a right-back. Very typical. End of the game, 2-0 for Mexico.
Dunga as the coach of the Brazilian squad is as distortion comparable to an engineer who just left school and is invited to rebuild the World Trade Center. Or a garage band invited to play at the Grammy ceremony.
Luckily Chile is a weaker side.
Category: 
Subscribe
|
Print
|
Share
      |
Comments
-
The Mexican goalkeeper, Ochoa, is too good for the Mexican league, I think. But since Europe and South American breed good goalkeepers by the dozens, he’s stuck at Club America.
What was Dunga wearing, btw?
Posted from
United States
-
Football is a beauty, you lose against Honduras and US , just to win against Brazil. =) .
Ochoa is a great keeper , and Club America is a great team too, so no problem with that.
Posted from
United States -
Brazil has been playing ugly, unconvincing football since Dunga took over. If he survives to the World Cup it will be a crime.
Posted from
United States -
That Nery Castillo goal was a beauty. Wished I could have seen the whole match.
Posted from
Germany -
Bruno, that’s an excellent roundup of what took place last nite. Brazil had 11 players doing 11 different things. It was very strange to watch.
In their defense, this was Mexico’s sixth game in a month and Brazil’s first, so maybe that played a role. Hopefully that bodes well for the US tonite.
Inara, Dunga kept it simple. Blue button down and black pants as I recall. Nothing crazy.
Posted from
United States -
To bad Kaka and ‘Dinho are pretty boys who need rest instead of support their country…
Posted from
United States -
For those who missed the match Nery Castillo was more of a ball hog than a team player. In the last seconds of the game he was alone just a few meters in front of goal and he missed it.
Also halfway through the second half Nery had 2 men on him plus the goalkeeper with Ramon Morales completely alone on the left, and instead of passing it Nery tried to do it all himself. Even though mexico played ugly Brazil played worse (obviously).
Posted from
United States -
My favorite moment of the match was Robinho receiving the ball at midfield, dancing his way towards the Mexican goal bringing the entire Mexican team with him to the end touch line, and launching a shot from an impossible angle off the cross-bar… Simply spectacular, and I still don’t understand why the ball did NOT go in.
I also liked the Univision announcers’ infatuation with Vagner Love, using his “romantico voice” whenever he would say his name (which was quite often)… Hilarious.
Posted from
United States -
But seriously… that description is perfectly accurate.
Posted from
United States -
-
ok, that was cute, where is the real brazil?
that team yesterday sucked big time!! it was a disgrace to brazil’s soccer heritage. mexico didn’t win, brazil lost!!
screw ronaldinho and kaka not being there come on, brazil has talent all over the place so why are people acting as if brazil was one of those countries who has one or two great players and that’s it? dunga’s inexperience was evident in that he watched for 45 minutes a team that sucked and waited to make changes. quite frankly, I would prefer that brazil is eliminated so that prompts real changes in brazil’s attitude starting with that texeira getting the boot.Posted from
United States -
Actually Mexico did win, and so Brazil lost. And that was because in these game Mexico was better than Brazil. I dont care if Nery is not team player if he can score those goals, in the first half Juan got mad because Castilla was just playing with him (That was nice).
And apart from Castillo and Marquez, the other players were not what we consider our best. Osorio, Pardo and Salcido didnt play because they are “tired” (Or so they said so), Borgetti and Guardado were injured and Oswaldo Sanchez, Bofo Bautista and Chuautemoc Blanco were in the bench. So we won without our best players against a brazil team without their superstars (So we are in equal in that).
So the same, the argument that it was mexicos sixt game and brazils first , is just pointless as most of the mexican team that played yesterday against brazil didnt play in the Gold Cup.
Posted from
United States -
Brazil was horrible in that game, Dunga has no pedigree as a coach and it looks like the team had no tactics…Anderson looked good though, while Afonso Alves and Vagner Love are just not good enough for the Selecao, they arent Ronaldo and Adriano (on form of course).
Posted from
United States -
Does Brazil ever bring their top squad to the Copa America or do you they usually just let other players get playing time?
Posted from
United States -
it’s not that brazil doesn’t want to take the top stars, it’s that they don’t care enough about the national team to play tounaments other than the world cup. More and more this team has no identity with Brazilians.
Posted from
United States -
@ Fernando
Say that Nery isn’t a team player when the only option they have for goal is ignored while Nery is doing circus tricks around the goalkeeper. Team work is an important part of the game and just because we got a little bit lucky that Robinho’s aim was off doesn’t mean the team can relax and say “we beat brazil so the rest of the tournament will be no problem”
I like Nery but I just wish he would pass to his team mates when there is a very crystal clear opportunity.
Posted from
United States -
“it’s not that brazil doesn’t want to take the top stars, it’s that they don’t care enough about the national team to play tounaments other than the world cup. More and more this team has no identity with Brazilians.”
Really?I thought the Brazilians were proud of their amazing national team.Do they care more about clubs there?
Posted from
United States -
Julien,
I was talking about our “top-stars,” but since you’ve mentioned it… yes, right now Brazilians care more about their clubs than the national team. Very few say they’d rather watch Brazil over their clubs.
If you wanna know why, I suggest this post I’ve done few months ago.Posted from
United States -
Interesting, now I recognize why those peddlers, walking the Copacabana and Ipanema beaches with those yellow T-shirts aren’t selling ‘em. And as I just bought a couple Vasco de Gama shirts for my sons, perhaps I’m a living example.
Posted from
United States -
“If you wanna know why, I suggest this post I’ve done few months ago.”
Thanks for the link.
Posted from
United States
Comments are closed
Home 
