If there was an Olympic gold medal for whining then Dunga, coach of the Brazilian soccer team, would be among the early contenders.
The 1994 World Cup winning captain, who, as a player, was an example of resilience and dedication to the cause, is not a happy camper.
First, he was complaining about the food—"When you try to talk to the chef to change the menu, he has to talk to his boss, who has to talk to his boss, who has to talk to his boss and by that time the Olympics are over"—and lack of training time in Shenyang, where Brazil have started their campaign to win a first gold in Olympic soccer.
After his team struggled to beat nine-man Belgium in their opening match on Thursday, he blamed the pitch and his opponents for making life difficult (isn't that what they're supposed to do?).
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"The ball bounces around all over the place and you need two or three touches to bring it under control," he snarled. "The opposition just kept putting all their players behind the ball and used the high ball into the area. They've been together for four months and we got together 15 days ago."
But the unhappy truth is that Brazil should have swept their opponent aside and might have done so if Dunga had been just a little more adventurous. A team boasting players such as Werder Bremen midfielder Diego, Premier League players Lucas and Anderson in midfield, AC Milan prodigy Alexandre Pato in attack, plus Ronaldinho, should not play in fits and starts as Brazil did on Thursday.
Unfortunately, Dunga did what he has done in recent matches with the senior side, which he also coaches, and went for the cautious approach.
He stuck three midfielders in front of his defence and left Pato to fight two or three Belgian defenders on his own. Ronaldinho was stuck out on the left flank with nobody to exchange passes with except left back Marcelo on his occasional forays up field.
Despite winning the Copa America in his two years at the helm, Dunga does not look comfortable as Brazil's national team coach.
Brazil will get better in the Games, but there is something missing from this, the greatest of footballing nations, and there is something a miss with their current manager. Will he still be around for the 2010 World Cup?
I am not so sure...
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Alby Jnr
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3 months ago
This is a team that has the talent to win a gold, but not if they play like last night. Dunga needs to shut up and coach.
3 months ago
informative and well written as always, Alby!
I think it's clear Dunga needs to play positively. he has an embarrasment of riches at his disposal and just needs to give his players a licence to express themselves creatively. the idea of 3 defensive midfielders is not a good one. Brazil have genrally played with a holdin defensve midfield player, think dunga 94, mauro silva france 98 and gilberto in 2002 and emerson in 06 but 3 is over the top. im sure a more open and positive approach could pay dividends... altho i still expect argentina to win the gold medal!
3 months ago
He seems a weird selection as he isn't a flair individual. Not really the Brazilian style.
I suppose if he wins he'll stay so we'll just have to wait and see.
3 months ago
Hey Alby,
It was the same in Copa America. Dunga and company even lost to Mexico I believe in the opening stages....and really only lifted their game in the last match drubbing Argentina 3-0...something few countries in the world could dream of achieving.
So for this reason we must be patient and give him some credit. I think Dunga approaches any tourney in the same manner 1994 WC was won.
He is either very clever or extremely lucky.
I also observed that there were starts and stops- I associate this with a genuine desire to just get the result and nothing else. I feel like Ronaldinho was out of it intentionally and Pato was isolated also in an intentional manner. During tourneys other teams always seem to study Brazil.
They seem very focused on winning in that there is no desire to expose everything the team is capable of but rather only play for results. The team also did not participate in the opening ceremony which also shows commitment to win in Beijing.
Of course I might be wrong. They did look horrible in match one (fact).
We will only know the truth when Brazil meets Los Hermanos. Whenever this match comes up you can be sure it`s the match of the tournament....in recent times Argentina has had tremendous difficulty in getting past our Canarinhos.
from 3 months ago
I am with S...
I like Dunga and hope he can get some swagger back...
Argentina can be great all tournament but then Brazil and Arg meet and it really is a gamble but 75% of the time I think Brazil have the mental edge...
It is exciting...
3 months ago
Brazil for the gold
from 3 months ago
Not so fast John.....we have to respect Messi, Riquelme and company.
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