International Football
BRAZIL’S 1982 WORLD CUP TEAM REUNITE AGAINST COVID-19
Members of Brazil’s 1982 World Cup squad have reunited to ask their compatriots to work together and donate money to help the country’s overcrowded favelas avoid the worst ravages of the coronavirus.
They are just some of the country’s leading athletes, past and present, who are stepping up to help the most vulnerable communities.
In an initiative led by Paulo Roberto Falcao, 19 players, including Zico, Junior and Leandro, recorded a video message appealing for donations.
“The 1982 Brazil team was known for its creativity, union and collective work ethic,” Falcao said. “Now we are springing into action for Brazil again.”
The former Roma and Internacional midfielder said 2.6 million reais (S$719,250) has been raised in less than a week.
His appeal is the latest in a series of efforts by leading current and former Brazilian footballers to help the largest South American nation cope with the effects of Covid-19.
More than 900 Brazilians have died from the virus but doctors fear the death toll could rise exponentially if it gets a foothold in the densely populated favelas, or shanty towns, that dot most Brazilian cities.
The Brazil team at the 1982 World Cup in Spain is widely held to be one of the greatest sides never to win the tournament.
After beating the Soviet Union, Scotland, New Zealand and Argentina, Brazil needed a draw against Italy to move into the semi-finals.
However, a hat-trick from Paolo Rossi gave the Azzurri a 3-2 win and helped them on the way to the final, where they defeated West Germany 3-1.
All the Brazil team except captain Socrates, goalkeeper Waldir Peres and midfielder Batista are still alive and contributed a video for Falcao’s initiative.
Olympic judo medallist Flavio Canto, meanwhile, is among those giving his time and money to battle the outbreak.
“When all this is over, those that have a lot are going to have a lot less but they’ll still have more than most, and they have an obligation to help those who have nothing,” the Rio de Janeiro resident told Reuters.
A bronze medallist in the men’s 81kg category at Athens 2004, Canto is almost as famous in Brazil for his work with the Instituto Reacao, a charity that uses martial arts to help transform young people’s lives.
He is raising funds for a project that will give a monthly stipend to thousands of families in Rio and Cuiaba who are under quarantine or suffering financially due to unemployment or the need to self-isolate. The monthly stipend of around 100 reais comes in the form of a pre-paid cash card that can be used in local supermarkets.
“My charity has 20 years of experience in that field and the other athletes are people with the same profile, who have experience in charity work and therefore credibility,” he said by telephone from Rio.
Dunga urges donations
One such athlete is Dunga, who captained the Selecao to their 1994 World Cup win.
The former Internacional and Fiorentina midfielder is working with business contacts and former players – including ex-Brazil internationals Jorginho and Edmilson and Paulo Cesar Tinga – to help disadvantaged communities in his home state of Rio Grande do Sul.
Like Canto, Dunga has run a charitable foundation for many years, helping orphanages, old folks’ homes and social projects.
In the last few days he has persuaded supermarket owners, food producers and transportation companies to donate and distribute more than 10 tonnes of food to local charities as more and more people suffer due to the virus.
“We saw that there are a lot of people in the favelas who aren’t working and they don’t have food so I called the friends I still play football with and said let’s do something,” he told Reuters.
–Reuters
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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