Why Dunga Had to Return to Brazil, and Why He Must Leave
By Ryan Wrenn
Boos rang out from the half-full stadium in Porto Alegre Wednesday night. Brazil had just earned a narrow 1-0 victory over Honduras, their tenth win in as many matches since last year’s disastrous World Cup. They had scored 23 goals along the way while conceding only two.
And yet, this isn’t the progress Brazil wanted.
For Brazil’s coach Dunga, born Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri, this wouldn’t exactly come as a surprise. He has been the target of such rancor since his captainship and bulldog performances in defensive midfield helped earned Brazil their fourth World Cup trophy in 1994. So influential was he then that those years became known in Brazil by the pejorative Era Dunga. Brazil might have ended a 24 year old World Cup drought, but they did it the wrong way.
Dunga captained a Brazil side that became known for their grind more than their beauty. It was efficient and orderly. Responsible. To watch a highlight of Brazil and Dunga’s efforts in the ‘94 final is to be impressed with his passing range and defensive acumen. He’s wearing the number 8 in the clip below.
And yet it’s clear that however good Dunga might have been, he and his teammates played in a style that doesn’t look Brazilian. Six men cautiously sat back while the remaining four outfielders struggled to find a way through Italy’s defenses. While the desired result came, criticism of the methodology mounted. The legendary Brazilian sides of Pelé and Garrincha and Carlos Alberto did not struggle in 1970 against an Italian side steeped in catenaccio. They would find the lead early, and then not simply be content with defending it, only adding to it. Dunga’s entire game appeared anathema to jogo bonito.
On a purely practical level, it made sense for Brazil to turn to a retired Dunga as manager after their unimpressive exit from the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He was a man of results. As the age of Brazil’s iconic striker Ronaldo began to wane, such results were to be a vital part of the transition to a new era. By most metrics, Dunga exceeded expectations. A year after his appointment, he won the Copa América. He took the reigns of the under 23 team as well as the first team and managed a bronze medal in Beijing in 2008. Overall, he led Brazil to victory in 70 percent of their matches from 2006 to his departure in 2010 following the quarterfinal loss to the Netherlands from the World Cup in South Africa.
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Still, it wasn’t enough to many fans. Dunga’s Brazil looked great by the numbers. Unfortunately, Brazil at its best was never about numbers. It was about flair and individual magic and winning through the sheer collective will of the entire nation. Dunga’s caution and defensive mentality was tantamount to admitting that Brazil actually had competition. Prior failures could be written off as one-off mistakes or misguided errors. Dunga seemed to be writing the potential for failure into Brazil’s DNA. Each narrow victory or ground out result felt like a loss to some Brazil fans.
Luiz Felipe Scolari was brought in to replace Dunga in the hopes that he might be able to replicate the high-flying form of the Brazil side that won the 2002 World Cup. It was particularly vital to reclaim some of that old mojo because, of course, Brazil was chosen as host of the 2014 World Cup. Scolari was fortunate enough to be able to draw from a young, if precocious, new generation of Brazilian talent to get that job done. While he did bring in players like Neymar and Oscar, it wasn’t enough. Expectation and emotion overwhelmed Scolari’s Brazil side. They played with an uneven balance of flair and nervous energy, struggling throughout the tournament. Their ultimate exit from the competition came in the now-infamous semifinal against Germany. An overwrought Brazil conceded an unprecedented seven goals to the eventual champions, only managing to score a single goal late on.
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The loss ranks among the most painful in Brazil’s long football history, approaching the surprise loss in the Maracanã that saw Uruguay win the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. Scolari was given the boot and the search began anew for the man to lead Brazil out of the mire. Given the defensive frailties that led to their exit from what was due to be their World Cup in more ways than one, the Brazil football federation reverted to a familiar, if unpopular, option: Dunga. He took over on July 22nd, 2014.
Those ten victories Dunga’s achieved since then have not exactly lived up to the low expectations of his detractors. His Brazil possess more balance that Scolari’s, simultaneously able to give and take pressure, and the results bear out the benefits of his system. It’s easy to overanalyze results and goal tallies from friendlies, but at minimum one cannot shrug off a perfect record going into a major tournament like this summer’s Copa América in Chile.
It’s true that Brazil’s struggles Wednesday flattered Honduras a bit. Any side featuring the likes of Neymar, Coutinho and Willian should be able to put such a game to bed very early. Dunga’s game might not be ideally suited for a country teetering on the edge of disillusionment with their national team. It has a tendency to be gritty and even unattractive. The reality, though, is that with the ascent of Colombia and Chile and the continued challenge of old rivals Uruguay and Argentina, Brazil has never seen its South American hegemony so broadly challenged. Brazil needs a steady defensive hand to weather this summer’s storm.
How good for Brazil Dunga will be in the long run is a bigger question. Germany’s destruction of the Seleção last summer should be a lesson learned. Faced with a similarly difficult transition, Germany restructured their entire football system in the early 2000s, encouraging clubs in lower professional leagues to develop the youth and tactics that would one day win them another World Cup. That initiative’s stunning success is an inspiration to any ambitious national team, but should especially resonate with a Brazil desperate to reclaim past glories. So while Dunga is Brazil’s best option to staunch the bleeding that likely began far before that 7-1 defeat last summer, he might not be the ointment Brazil need to return to health.