Can Dunga Clean Up His Brazil Mess in Time to Challenge for the Copa America?
Fractional. The difference between Brazil humiliatingly losing the first game of the Copa America Centenario against Ecuador and escaping with a 0-0 draw.
So fractional that the latter happened at the Rose Bowl in Santa Clara, when it should have been the former.
Miller Bolanos' effort from the byline was fumbled in by Brazil's goalkeeper Alisson at his near post; it was an embarrassing mistake, but not one for which he was made to pay.
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The officiating team deemed the ball to have been fractionally out of play before Bolanos fired it in, although replays indicated that the whole sphere did not cross the line.
Ecuador's manager Gustavo Quinteros lashed out after the game, claiming that if the positions had been reversed—had it been the Selecao scoring a goal like that—it would have stood.
Per ESPN, he said:
"I just saw the replay several times, and unfortunately the referees again make a mistake in favor of the stronger team. In fact, if the play had been on the other side, we doubt very much that the referee would have decided to invalidate that goal.
So we're very angry about that. All that effort, all that work, and we get a goal taken away from us.
"
Ecuador are not a bad team by any means, but this sort of game should be Brazil’s bread and butter. It was anything but—Dunga’s team are a mess. The coach blamed various problems they’ve suffered from this year.
"What haven't we had here in the United States?" he said at his pre-match press conference ahead of Brazil's clash with Haiti on Wednesday night in Orlando, per the Daily Mail.
To be fair to the coach, the disallowed goal was the only thing that has gone right for Brazil so far this summer. Everything else has been a disaster. Starting with Neymar.
Dunga flew to Barcelona in the home straight of Barcelona's season, as the Brazilian Football Confederation (CFB) tried to get clearance for the Camp Nou star to play in both the Copa America and the Olympic Games, but their bid failed.
Neymar watched the match from an executive box at the stadium as Brazil took on Ecuador in the first game of the tournament.
He spent the night fooling around with Justin Bieber, Lewis Hamilton and Jamie Foxx as part of a larger Los Angeles jaunt, but what Brazil would have given for his cutting edge.
Then came the legion of injured players, from Bayern Munich's Douglas Costa to Orlando City's Kaka, the former's replacement. In total there were six, including Luiz Gustavo, who left for personal reasons.
That was followed by the murder-suicide at the University of California campus where Brazil were set to train meaning they had to change venue, just as they had to again in Florida due to heavy rain at the Camping World Stadium which was their preferred location.
All these incidents aside, though, there is still something wrong with Brazil. There has been for years.
During the 2014 World Cup, Brazil suffered one of the most painful nights in their footballing history, with a 7-1 humiliation on home soil by Germany.
Luiz Felipe Scolari resigned and Dunga was appointed in the aftermath. His job since then has been to rebuild the side into the champions they used to be, and he has not succeeded.
Instead, he has ensured the side is built never to suffer such a large thrashing again, but that is a small-minded aim and not one befitting of Brazil's legend as a football nation.
Against Ecuador, for the first time since that 7-1 defeat, not a single player who started that semi-final began for Brazil. The likes of Marcelo, Maicon, Bernard, Julio Cesar, Fred, Fernandinho and Dante have been tossed to one side.
David Luiz and Oscar are presumably being reserved for the Olympics, Hulk was on the bench and Luiz Gustavo was unavailable.
The last time they won a major trophy was the 2007 Copa America, during Dunga’s first stint as Brazil boss. The years since have been increasingly disappointing.
These days the humiliations aren't the blockbuster type like the Germany beating, but instead low-key struggles, which is even worse in a way.
They were knocked out of the Copa America 2015 on penalties by Paraguay at the quarter-final stage, after struggling to get through the group.
Bad results in the World Cup qualifiers have heaped pressure on Dunga's shoulders. A nation that grew so used to winning has now lost the knack of it and anything other than victories create a venomous atmosphere.
Losing to Chile, drawing with Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay and only beating Peru and Venezuela have put Brazil sixth in the table after one third of the games.
There is plenty of time to get back on track. The problem is that they have showed no real signs of doing so. So what can Dunga do to fix Brazil in the short term for the Copa America Centenario?
Of course, using players like Thiago Silva and Marcelo would add quality and creativity, but that ship has sailed with regards to this tournament.
Brazil should beat Haiti regardless of their selection, but Dunga could use the game as a platform to try different players and progressive tactics.
Jonas offered little up front and although he has performed well for Benfica this season, at 32, he is not a viable long-term option for Brazil.
Playing youngster Gabriel “Gabigol” Barbosa might breathe more life into the forward line and also work towards helping the country on a scale beyond the Copa.
The midfield setup could be changed too, with Elias having a bad game against Ecuador. With Casemiro there is little need for the Corinthians man to be in the mix too.
Instead, Dunga could play Renato Augusto and Philippe Coutinho as the other two midfielders, giving the latter his favoured No. 10 role, instead of seeing him played skewed off to one side.
Rivaldo agrees—sort of. The Brazilian great expressed his “great sadness” at nobody sporting the No. 10 shirt during the clash with Ecuador.
"Yesterday I felt great sadness when watching Brazil's game and I saw that the No. 10 was on the substitutes' bench," wrote Rivaldo on Instagram (h/t ESPN).
"Though Neymar, our No. 10 is not in the Copa America, the 10 shirt remains with Lucas Lima, a great player, that only received an opportunity 40 minutes into the second half. In my opinion Lucas Lima or Ganso deserve more opportunities."
One player who will not be changed is goalkeeper Alisson, despite his blunder against Ecuador which was nearly punished.
“Errors are part of the game, if no one made errors, no one would win the game,” added Dunga in his press conference.
But what about if a coach makes them—repeatedly?
"[Against Haiti] we must win by any means, and we cannot get another bad result," said Dunga, per Goal.
He's right, but at the same time it shows the lack of ambition he and Brazil have these days.
"We will only continue to grow throughout the tournament," he added, somewhat optimistically.
Part of Brazil’s problem is not creating enough clear-cut chances. Demanding more creativity from Dunga’s side isn’t just to improve their footballing aesthetics, but also to give them greater opportunity to win games.
They started well against Ecuador but soon fizzled out, with Dunga not digging for Lucas Moura and Lucas Lima until there was less than 15 minutes to go.
Haiti worked hard in their first game against Peru but went down 1-0 and will be fighting to stay in the tournament when Brazil face them.
If Dunga’s side can’t work their way into an early lead, then the coach must react quicker to the situation and bring on players if need be. Against Ecuador he was too slow—after the opening 30 minutes it was clear Brazil were struggling to force openings.
AS journalist Fernando Kallas told Bleacher Report: "It's very realistic [that Dunga could be sacked if Brazil do badly]. But due to the losses of Neymar, Douglas Costa and others, I think the evaluation will be for both Copa America and the Olympics together."
So perhaps Dunga has the Olympic Games as a lifeline, but anything other than a win against Haiti could prove fatal for the coach. And if he wants to achieve it, he should seriously consider opening Brazil's attack up a bit more and letting it breathe.
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