Tite announced in late February 2022 that he would stand down as Brazil’s head coach after the end of the Qatar World Cup.
That, in theory, gave the Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) plenty of time to find a successor. However, it proved insufficient.
Since then, the Selecao has had two caretaker managers, Ramon Menezes and Fernando Diniz, as well as another manager, Carlo Ancelotti, whom they felt had been recruited and publicly announced but was not.
Only now, when they face England at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, will Brazil have a permanent manager in Dorival Jr., bringing an end to what was widely seen as “a lost year” back home.
“That was the result of much disorganisation and also some arrogance to believe that any coach would just come running [to take the job] because it’s the Brazilian national team,” former Brazil international Walter Casagrande, now a renowned football analyst, told BBC Sport.
For the first time since 1963, the Selecao finished a year with more defeats than wins in 2023, losing five times, drawing once, and winning only three times in nine games, breaking several negative records along the way, including losing a home World Cup qualifier versus Argentina and three consecutive qualifiers versus Colombia, Uruguay, and Argentina for the first time.
They have surrendered more goals (seven) in six qualifying matches than they did in the previous season.
Overall, the Brazilians only defeated Guinea, Bolivia, and Peru, so it’s no wonder that the team’s confidence ahead of the game against England is at its lowest level since Germany’s 7-1 hammering in 2014.
With a new era beginning in London, the five-time world champions will look to move on from what was perhaps one of their worst years in recent memory.
“The current Brazilian side cannot compete with any top European team,” Casagrande said. “And that also applies to France, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Croatia, and others.”
“One of the greatest humiliations in the history of Brazilian football”
After the quarter-finals defeat in Qatar, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) placed Ancelotti at the top of their list, equaling their longest drought without a World Cup victory, which lasted 24 years from 1970 to 1994.
It immediately prompted a local discussion over whether Brazil should wait for any coach, no matter how excellent their credentials.
With Ancelotti under contract with Real Madrid for one more season at the time, CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues believed he was worth the wait and announced that he would take charge only at this year’s Copa America.
“He will be there; it’s a certainty,” Rodrigues stated last July.
Because there was no one else to do it, Under-20 national team manager Menezes had to go to Brazil on his day off at the Under-20 World Cup in Argentina to name the senior squad for friendlies and then return to the neighboring country the same day.
Menezes failed to impress during his brief tenure, but Rodrigues devised another unconventional solution, appointing Fluminense coach Diniz on a temporary basis while retaining his post with the Libertadores Cup winners.
Despite being well regarded in the country, Diniz was unable to have an influence either. As if things couldn’t get much worse, a local court dismissed Rodrigues from his position in December, prompting Fifa to threaten to suspend Brazil from international events owing to third-party involvement.
Ancelotti hit rock bottom later that month, announcing that he would extend his contract with Real Madrid until 2026.
“I’m grateful for the interest, but in the end, it turned out how I wanted: staying here,” he stated during a news conference.
It was remembered as “one of the greatest humiliations” in Brazilian football history.
“Ancelotti has never confirmed that he would coach Brazil, nor has CBF ever presented any concrete evidence [apart from words] that he had agreed to,” claimed three-time world champion and former Brazil striker Tostao, now a Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper writer.
Moving on from the Ancelotti debacle
So, the Selecao began 2024 with an interim president, an interim coach, and little optimism for the future. Even by CBF standards, this was a new low.
Rodrigues was reinstalled as president in early January, and one of his first moves was to remove Diniz over the phone and replace him with Dorival Junior from Sao Paulo.
Dorival, who had long been known as a ‘firefighter’ for salvaging hopeless teams, overcame prostate cancer in 2019 and has since achieved the pinnacle of his career, winning the Libertadores Cup in 2022 and the Brazilian Cup for the second consecutive season. The Wembley encounter against England will undoubtedly be memorable for him.
“Last year was completely lost, but we need to see how Dorival will do now,” Casagrande remarked.
Saturday will provide an excellent indication of how far Brazil has progressed.
