The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) made a surprising decision in July 2023 when they hired Fernando Diniz as the Seleção coach without him leaving his position as Fluminense manager. The experiment lasted only a few months, and now he’s only in charge of the Tricolor.
“I wish things had been different,” Diniz said about his experience as the national team coach after Fluminense’s 4-1 victory over Bangu in the Campeonato Carioca. “But that’s in the past. We must move on with our lives. I am very clear about what I did for the Brazilian team, and I know my contact with the players and the team is in good hands now. I had a strong conviction that, with more time, it would have yielded very important results. I had a very clear feeling about it. For those on the inside, it was also clear what was being done. Six games are an extremely small sample,” added Diniz, whose six games as Brazil’s coach were in the World Cup 2026 qualifiers with a record of two wins, one draw, and three losses.
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Fernando Diniz, grateful but hurt by the lack of patience
Diniz, who led Fluminense to their first-ever Copa Libertadores success in 2023, lamented not having more time to work with the Seleção, which he believed was on the right path under his guidance: “Unfortunately, there is a lot of talk about short-term results, and I get tired of saying that it is one of the evils of Brazilian football. The work needs a little more time. Not just me, but anyone needs a little more time. No serious assessment can be made with such a small sample. The game against Argentina, for example, was a great game that Brazil played and did not get a result. That, in the course of the work, would probably have improved, and the results would have come. But I leave with the feeling of having given my best, of having created special relationships with the players and the staff who were with me.”
However, Diniz made it clear that he has no hard feelings towards the CBF for the decision and believes that the Canarinha will find its way with Dorival Júnior.
“It was an enormous pleasure to have had that opportunity,” he assured. “I worked with total dedication during my time there. It was a difficult transition process. Many players who were at the World Cup had some kind of problem, injury, or suspension, and some players who were already advanced in age, we decided to bet on renewal. The work itself was being very well done, and I had a lot of confidence that it would yield very important results for the Seleção. That’s what I could see in training with the players and the coaching staff. I appreciate the opportunity I was given, and I am completely convinced that the work was done very well.”
He also made it clear that leaving Fluminense was never an option: “Sometimes, the results on the field do not immediately reflect the work done. However, the president mentioned in his speech about my departure the commitment he had with Mário Bittencourt not to remove me from Fluminense. That conversation really took place when we were at the CBF.”
