Dorival Júnior took over today as coach of the Brazilian National Team with a call to “rediscover” the path and promised a “Seleção of the people”, after some poor results that caused the “fans to lose affection and love” for the team. His contract is until after the 2026 World Cup.
“With Brazilian football we learned the path to victory and we need to find it again,” said the 61-year-old coach from São Paulo, during his official presentation in Rio de Janeiro.
“Tite did one of the most beautiful jobs in recent years with a national team. Unfortunately, it did not happen in the two World Cups. But it was work of the highest standard, and we have to praise it highly. I think he has done everything possible to get closer to the fans. I count a lot on your presence and participation, with suggestions and ideas, to change this a little. To make the Seleção truly the Seleção of the Brazilian people,” he said when praising one of his predecessors.
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“The fans have lost affection and love for the Brazilian team. We have to change that. We will only change when we stop dividing, we have to join forces,” he added. “Is this a difficult time we are going through? Yes, but nothing impossible to reverse quickly,” he added at the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF).
“Brazilian football is very strong, it reinvents itself, but it cannot live through a moment like the one that is happening. Maybe it will serve as a lesson for us to assimilate it quickly and find a new path,” he commented on the game and institutional crisis that the five-time world champion is experiencing.
Dorival: “They believe a little more in their national team”
“They believe a little more in their team,” said the coach and said he was “excited” to take on the challenge, which comes after being in charge of São Paulo, which he has led since April 2023 and which will return to the Copa Libertadores this year thanks to triumphing in the Brazil Cup.
The coach will make his debut in March, in the friendlies that Brazil will play against England and Spain in Europe. Then will come the challenge of the Copa América, to be played in the United States between June 20 and July 14, and will complete 2024 with the resumption of the Qualifiers, where the Seleção is sixth after three defeats in a row under the leadership of Fernando Diniz.
