International Football
WORLD CUP NOT ALWAYS WON BY THE BEST TEAM, SAYS BRAZILIAN STAR, MARQUINHOS
It has been 17 years since Brazil last won the World Cup, yet it is the most respected football squad in the world.
Brazil may not have won the World Cup since 2002, but Selecao centre back Marquinhos believes not all of his nation’s greatest generations have lifted football’s most storied prize.
No team in world football has more World Cups than Brazil (five), but the South American nation has also feted talented trophy-less teams like the class of 1982 – which featured Zico and Socrates.
Marquinhos admits that Brazil circa 2019, who won their first major trophy in 17 years at the Copa America in July, cannot yet be benchmarked among the pantheon of great Selecao sides.
But he believes that the World Cup is not the sole determinant of a team’s greatness.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of their friendlies against Senegal and Nigeria at the National Stadium this week, the 25-year-old centre-back said: “I think that right now we are not the best because we have not won the World Cup.
“But football right now is different and we are trying to get used to this moment of football.
“If we win a World Cup one day, we will put our name in history as one of the best.
“Until we win titles like the World Cup, we will not be part of this history.
“But also in Brazil, we have magical generations that didn’t win a World Cup.
“And sometimes generations that weren’t that good won the World Cup and they are (recognised) in history. Football is like this, titles are important.”
Since Brazil won their last World Cup in Japan and South Korea, Europe have usurped Brazil and their South American counterparts as the dominant force in world football.
The last four tournaments have been won by four different European nations – Italy, Spain, Germany and France.
All but one of the finalists in those tournaments hail from Europe, with Brazil’s arch-rivals Argentina losing to Germany in 2010.
When asked why South America seems to be lagging behind, Paris Saint-Germain’s Marquinhos said the continent needs to adapt to the increasingly “defensive” nature of international football.
He said: “We South Americans cannot lose our essence, but must adapt to the moment…
“Not always the highest quality will win…
“The world of football right now is playing more like Europe, all around the world…
“Many teams are playing a defensive style. So when we see the teams in a World Cup, all of them are playing in a defensive way.
“They are more closed between the lines.
“So it’s different from the football that was played in the past.
“The focus was on attack and now the focus is on defence.
“But we need to have our own philosophy and we have to match that with the European style.”
Marquinhos was one of 11 Brazil players who arrived in Singapore yesterday morning.
The others were Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho, Fabinho, Eder Militao, Lucas Paqueta, Casemiro, Thiago Silva, Richarlison, Dani Alves and Neymar.
International Football
Former Brazil coach Tite taking break to take care of mental, physical health
Former Brazil coach Tite said he is taking an indefinite career break in order to take care of his mental and physical health.
The 63-year-old, who led Brazil to the 2019 Copa America title, was hospitalised due to a heart issue last August. He was sacked by Flamengo the following month and had most recently been linked with the Corinthians job.
“I realised that there are times when you have to understand that, as a human being, I can be vulnerable and admitting that will certainly make me stronger,” Tite said in a statement posted on his son Matheus Bachi’s Instagram on Tuesday.
“I’m passionate about what I do and I’ll continue to be so, but after talking to my family and observing the signals my body was giving off, I decided that the best thing to do now is to take a break from my career to look after myself for as long as it takes.
“As has become public, there was a conversation in progress with Corinthians, but it will have to be paralysed by a difficult but necessary decision.”
Tite, who stepped down as Brazil coach after their quarter-final exit from the 2022 World Cup, has previously coached a string of Brazilian sides including Gremio, Atletico Mineiro and Palmeiras.
-Reuters
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Brazil have sacked head coach Dorival Jr, the country’s football confederation (CBF) said on Friday after the five-time world champions were thrashed 4-1 away to fierce rivals Argentina in a humiliating qualifying loss in Buenos Aires.
The 62-year-old was appointed in January 2024 after the team spent a year under two caretaker coaches as the Brazilian FA were unable to lure Italian Carlo Ancelotti from Real Madrid.
“The Brazilian Football Confederation informs that coach Dorival Jr is no longer in charge of the Brazilian national team,” the confederation said in a statement.
“The management thanks (Dorival) and wishes him success in continuing his career … the CBF will work to find his replacement,” it added.
Dorival was handed the job after his success with Flamengo in 2022 where he won the Copa Libertadores and Brazilian Cup, a trophy he lifted again the next year with Sao Paulo.
However, he never seemed to get to grips with the national team job and failed to earn the trust of Brazil’s demanding fans after winning only seven of his 16 games in charge.
Sources told Reuters the CBF was not confident in Dorival’s work, considering there had been little to no progress since a lacklustre Copa America campaign when Brazil were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Uruguay last year.
Still, the CBF was willing to wait and see until the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay in June to reassess the situation following the end of the European season and the Club World Cup in the U.S. in June and July.
But after Brazil slumped to their heaviest-ever loss in a qualifier when they were thrashed by Argentina this week, CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues decided to pull the trigger.
IDEAL CANDIDATE
Sources told Reuters Ancelotti was still the ideal candidate but he is under contract with Real until July 2026 and there is no indication he would leave the European and Spanish champions.
Brazilian media have reported that Al Hilal’s Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus is the favourite to replace Dorival.
Brazil have been in unfamiliar territory for over two years since crashing out of the 2022 World Cup against Croatia on penalties in the quarter-finals, a heartbreaking elimination that led to the exit of long-time manager Tite.
Their humbling defeat in Buenos Aires was the latest of a series of negative records Brazil have set under caretakers Ramon Menezes and Fernando Diniz and with Dorival in charge. They had never conceded four goals in a World Cup qualifier.
Brazil are in the midst of their worst-ever World Cup qualifying campaign. They are fourth in the South American standings with 21 points, a point above sixth-placed Colombia who currently occupy the final direct qualifying berth.
Never have Brazil lost so many games, conceded so many goals or set so many negative records in the qualifying competition. They have lost five of their 14 games and conceded 16 goals.
Brazil’s 1-0 defeat by Argentina in the Maracana late in 2023 was their first-ever qualifying loss on home soil.
They also lost to Colombia for the first time, saw the end of their unbeaten run against Uruguay stretching back over two decades and were defeated by Morocco and Senegal, having never previously lost to an African nation.
-Reuters
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International Football
England’s German manager Tuchel will not sing the English anthem in his first game
England manager Thomas Tuchel said he would have to “earn the right” to sing the national anthem, God Save the King, after announcing his 26-man squad on Friday ahead of the team’s World Cup qualifiers.
Tuchel, who was appointed as Gareth Southgate’s successor in October and named his first squad to face Albania and Latvia this month, said he would not sing the anthem in his first games in charge.
“It means a lot to me, I can assure you, but I can feel that because it is so meaningful and it is so emotional and it is so powerful, the national anthem, that I have to earn my right to sing it,” the 51-year-old German told a news conference.
Former caretaker manager Lee Carsley was criticised last year for not singing the anthem during his tenure.
However, Tuchel added that while he is proud to be in charge of the team and knows the words to the anthem, he plans to earn the right with results.
“Maybe I have to dive more into the culture and earn my right from you, from the players, from the supporters, so everyone feels like ‘he should sing it now, he’s one of our own, he’s the English manager, he should sing it’,” he said.
-Reuters
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