Dunga – Still a legend in Brazil?

Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri captained Brazil to World Cup glory in the United States in 1994 and will always be a legend in his homeland.

The man, better known as Dunga, took the reins as Brazil coach in August 2006 and has now been sacked following their World Cup quarter-final defeat to Holland.

Start

The forty-six year old coach had a decent start to his managerial career with Brazil, winning five of his first six games. He had no previous managerial or coaching experience but seemed to settle well into the role.

The first tournament he faced as a challenge was the 2007 Copa America. He led them to an impressive success, beating Argentina 3-0 in the final and including a remarkable 6-1 win over Chile along the way.

Effective

Dunga then took Brazil through their World Cup qualifying campaign which was effective and reasonably successful, even if it was less than spectacular. Their only defeat occurred in Paraguay, but there were disappointing draws with Columbia, Peru, Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador.

The Brazilian public were becoming divided in their opinions of the way Dunga was asking his team to play. They were compact and difficult to beat but many people thought he was stifling the natural flair seen in Brazil teams over the years.

Success

The Confederations Cup followed in 2009 and he again led them to tournament success. Apart from a 3-0 win over Italy, Brazil were not overly impressive in that tournament but victory was assured when they came from behind to beat USA 3-2 in the final.

It was then back to the business of qualifying for the World Cup and despite a defeat at the frighteningly high altitude in Bolivia, qualification was achieved with relative ease.

Hopes

Dunga and Brazil arrived in South Africa on the back of five straight wins and just one defeat in twenty-five. Hopes were high.

Things began reasonably well with wins over North Korea and Ivory Coast and then a 0-0 draw against a Portugal team who hardly ventured out of their own half. An impressive 3-0 win over Chile in the round of sixteen made them many people’s favourites to win the tournament and give Dunga a managerial tournament record of played three, won three.

Beaten

As it turned out, they were deservedly beaten by Holland in the quarter-final and the dream was over.

The Brazilian football federation have dismissed Dunga and his entire coaching staff. They issued a short and to the point statement.

“With the closing of the work cycle that started in August 2006 and ended with the elimination of Brazil from the World Cup in South Africa, the CBF announces the dismissal of the technical commission of the Brazilian team.”

They also went on to say that a new coach would be announced prior to the end of this month. Although the new man will face various challenges, the overwhelming target will be to win the 2014 World Cup being held in Brazil for the first time in sixty-four years.

Critics

Dunga has had his critics and it is no surprise that he has been ousted from his position, but I would have to ask whether he has actually been a failure. He has won two tournaments, qualified for the World Cup and then taken his team to the quarter-finals. His record as manager of the national side sees just five defeats in sixty games. That sounds pretty good to me.

So, is Dunga still a legend in Brazil or has his reputation been tarnished?