Dunga Maintains Core as Brazil Rehabilitation Goes on with France Friendly

Slowly, Dunga’s rebuilding work continues. Perhaps there weren’t a great number of alternatives, but at least part of the reason Dunga was appointed as Brazil coach after the World Cup was his mental strength, the image he projects of implacable solidity.

In his first stint as Brazil manager, which ended after elimination to the Netherlands in the quarter-final of the 2010 World Cup, his phlegmatic, pragmatic style was seen as a negative, denying the country the artistry it regarded as its birthright; in the aftermath of the 7-1, it may be just what Brazil need.

The ghost of the 7-1 continues to haunt Brazil. What happened against Germany in the World Cup semi-final was not an ordinary defeat.

It was the sort of thing that can scar a generation of players and fans, that can lurk unseen beneath the surface ready to assail the nerves at a moment of future crisis (just as some would say the trauma of 1950, when Brazil lost their final game to Uruguay at the Maracana was in part responsible for the collapse against Germany in Belo Horizonte).

Happily, Brazil won’t play another game of even vaguely comparable importance on home soil until they host the Copa America in 2019, but as they continue their preparation for the 2015 edition in Chile with a friendly away to France on Thursday, a key figure from the 7-1 returns.

Themba Hadebe/Associated Press

Inasmuch as individuals can be picked out in a collective failure, Marcelo was alongside David Luiz, the player perhaps most at fault in the semi-final defeat. His sallies forward from left-back, made with increasingly little thought as to the consequences, left Brazil badly exposed, and it’s understandable in the search for scapegoats that inevitably follows such a game, his role was highlighted.

Dunga gave Marcelo his international debut in 2006 before seeming to lose faith in him and omitting him from the squad for the 2010 World Cup after he'd played in a single qualifier, he has recalled him for the games against France and Chile and he will presumably be replaced by Felipe Luis, who has been Dunga’s first choice, for at least one of those two games.

What’s been striking about Dunga’s reign, in fact, is how similar his approach has been to that of Luiz Felipe Scolari. He too has played a basic 4-2-3-1, although with Neymar drifting in from the left to become a second striker.

He too has favoured Oscar as the central of three creators—although Neymar’s movement means he does go wide at times. Willian appears to have edged ahead of Hulk; he’s kept Luiz Gustavo at the back of midfield alongside Fernandinho and David Luiz at centre-back. Thiago Silva will almost certainly replace Miranda, who played in the friendlies against Austria and Turkey last November at centre-back.

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The much-maligned Fred retired from international football after the World Cup, which has meant either Diego Tardelli or Luiz Adriano playing at centre-forward.

Although there is some thought Neymar could operate as a false nine with Philippe Coutinho operating from the left, it seems likely Dunga will stick with an orthodox front man (not least because he recently suggested Liverpool play a 4-4-2, which suggested he hadn’t been monitoring Coutinho that closely).

Tardelli is injured, which may open the door to Hoffenheim’s Roberto Firmino—or even Robinho operating as a false nine.

Friendlies can be a time to experiment, but as Dunga prepares for the Copa America, which begins in less than three months, it seems his preferred first team could feature seven of the same players who started the last-16 match against Chile at the World Cup, although his side will surely be more cautious, particularly in the full-back areas.

That could be interpreted in one of two ways: either that Brazil has little depth of talent or that Scolari got the personnel right but that emotions ended up overwhelming all else last summer. Dunga, dour as he is, at least should prevent a repeat of the breakdown in Belo Horizonte, however deep the hurt runs.