Brazil Boss Dunga Has Big Decisions to Make After Copa America Exit
Quite possibly, the most infuriating aspect of Brazil’s limp Copa America elimination against Paraguay at the weekend was the meek manner in which they gave up the ghost. While debate continues to rage on the talent, or lack thereof, in this squad, and possible options Dunga has to replace the dead wood, the apparent lack of passion and fight is inexcusable.
Say what you like about Dunga (and the Brazilian press don’t usually need a second invitation to do precisely that) but he can hardly be described as a coach who demonstrates a lack of passion. He is on the touchline kicking every ball, pacing like a beleaguered bull eyeing up a grinning buffoon waving a red cloth, waiting to erupt.
This tournament was never going to be an easy ask for Brazil. The country is still reeling from the World Cup sucker punch, and the road to recovery is a work in progress.
In addition, vitally important pieces of Dunga’s Selecao side were missing. Oscar didn’t even make the squad having been involved at the 2011 Copa America, the 2012 Olympic Games, the 2013 Confederations Cup and then the World Cup.
Luiz Gustavo injured himself at the end of the German season and had to be cut from the 23-man squad. And Danilo, the first-choice right-back under the new coach, was forced to pull out at the last minute, to be replaced by veteran Daniel Alves.
As if that wasn’t enough to contend with, lone craque Neymar was handed a four-match ban after the game against Colombia, in which he was sent off and verbally abused Chilean referee Enrique Osses, and will subsequently miss the first two matches of Brazil’s World Cup qualifying campaign, scheduled to kick off in October.
And that now becomes the focus of Dunga and his coaching staff. The number of games he will have in the group of 10 nations affords him time to experiment and tweak, but where to go from here?
Coming away from Chile, it is likely Dunga has the fewest questions over his back line. Jefferson, despite not excelling and making an early error, is likely to keep his place between the sticks.
Danilo could return at right-back and Marcelo on the left, despite now facing fresh competition from their deputies, Daniel Alves and Filipe Luis respectively.
Miranda has cemented his place at the heart of the defence, while neither David Luiz nor Thiago Silva looked completely convincing alongside him.
If Dunga were looking to make a replacement, the obvious choice would be Marquinhos, who has served as understudy since the World Cup. In addition, Corinthians stopper Gil has also featured previously, while young Fluminense defender Marlon performed well at the recent U-20 World Cup.
Moving further up the field, it is absolutely inconceivable that Luiz Gustavo will be handed back his starting berth at the earliest opportunity. The loss of Neymar was clearly a huge loss, but arguably the coach’s biggest error was failing to select an adequate cover player for the Wolfsburg enforcer.
The biggest headache remains up front. With or without Neymar, the Selecao lack a focal point, a true leader to take possession of the No. 9 shirt.
Both Diego Tardelli and Roberto Firmino disappointed at the Copa America, scoring one goal between them. Firmino netted against Venezuela but his tournament is more likely to be remembered for that glaring miss against Colombia and an apathetic showing against Paraguay.
Tardelli, meanwhile, was arguably even worse. Not only did the Shandong Luneng striker fail to find the net, he did not manage to win a single duel in the penalty area, as shown by these Opta stats (link in Portuguese). It was almost enough to have the fans crying out for Fred, the man so vociferously booed in Belo Horizonte against Germany.
Again, Dunga looks shorn of genuine options, and if he were to shift game plans again and attempt to play with a more fixed target man up front, it is the same old names that keep cropping up.
Luiz Adriano was tried and discarded prior to the Copa America. It is highly unlikely Fred, for all his talents as that kind of forward, will ever pull on the yellow shirt again. Of Leandro Damiao and Alexandre Pato, the former looks to have the edge, having been called up for the provisional 30-man squad for this tournament.
The manner of, rather than the actual, defeat that led to Brazil’s exit has set the country’s default mood setting back to discontent. Dunga, never one for nostalgia, is likely to be ruthless in sorting the wheat from the chaff.
His most pressing concern at present may be that the two look depressingly similar.
.jpg?w=600 "Offseason Moves for Every Team 👉")
.png?w=600 "New NBA Mock Draft 📝")
.png?w=600 "Surprising Landing Spots for Top Potential 2026 NBA Free Agents")