Why Brazil dismissed Dorival Junior coach with FIFA World Cup qualifiers still in progress – Firstpost

Friday, Dorival Junior was dismissed as a full -time manager of the Brazilian football team, just over a year after being in charge of one of the most famous sports teams. The former defensive midfielder was hired by the Confederation of Brazilian football (CBF) in order to help “ Selecao Canarinho ” of their expectations for a sixth world title which lasted more than two decades.

A humiliating loss against Argentina leads to the eviction of Dorival

Dorival, however, is unemployed with the Brazil qualification campaign for the 2026 World Cup still underway, after the humiliation of the 4-1 team in the hand of the Rivaux d’Archi and the defending world champions in Argentina.

“Dorival Junior is no longer in charge of the Brazilian national team. Management thanks him and wishes him success for the rest of his career,” the CBF said in a statement.

Dorival, 62, was only in charge since January 2024, the successive coach of Fernando Diniz, but supervised a dull qualification campaign for the 2026 World Cup finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The five winners of the Brazil World Cup are fourth in the South American qualification table, 10 points behind the defending world champions in Argentina who have already taken place in their place in the final.

Brazil is also seated behind Ecuador and Uruguay.

There are six automatic qualification points for South America teams.

Brazil will visit the equator and welcome Paraguay on June 4 and 9, respectively, in the next qualifying series.

The writing was on the wall for Dorival after Tuesday’s rout in Buenos Aires.

“No one expected what we have seen today, and the responsibility is entirely mine,” said the coach after the match.

https://twitter.com/CBF_Futebol/status/1905726902763135268?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Dorival took over the Selecao after winning domestic titles with Flamengo and Sao Paulo.

His appointment was only announced after months of speculation on the possible arrival of the Italian coach of Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti.

The Brazilian media affirm that Encelotti is again among the objectives to succeed Doriv, ​​like the Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus, is currently in charge of Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.

Portuguese compatriot Abel Ferreira, who won many titles with the Brazilian club Palmeiras, was also linked to employment.

Ancelotti rejected speculation on Friday, saying that he intended to see his contract in Madrid which takes place until June 2026, despite his “affection for Brazil, his players and his fans”.

The beginnings of Dorival saw a victory against England at Wembley with a goal of Teenage Star Endrick.

No golden age

However, all the hopes of a new golden age of football for the spiritual house of the game were destroyed by a miserable performance at COPA America 2024.

During this tournament, Brazil drink in the stages with direct elimination after a single victory and two draws in their group campaign.

They then lost against Uruguay during a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw in the quarter-final.

Adding the insult to the injury, Argentina then claimed the title.

Other low points have followed-a 1-0 defeat in Paraguay and a 1-1 draw against Venezuela during qualifying in the World Cup.

The performances left the perplexed fans that Dorival could not take out the best of talented players such as Vinícius Junior, Rodrygo and Raphinha.

Traditional art and panache also failed by the team fans.

Dorival’s headaches were the discolored talents of Neymar, 33, the top scorer in Brazil who was prey to physical ailments.

Back in Brazil, in his childhood club Santos, Neymar hoped to return to the national team after more than a year due to a serious knee injury.

However, he missed the last two games against Colombia (a 2-1 victory) and the rout in Argentina due to a thigh problem.

Whoever succeeds Dorival, the task will be to resuscitate the style and bring back a first title to the country since the Copa America 2019.

Dorival had alluded to the obstacles against Brazil, which were eliminated in the quarter -finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, while they were drinking the current qualification tour.

He insisted that “world order” football was changing and the five -time champions and Argentina could not simply expect to waltz the past regional rivals.

“South American football has grown up a lot. If you are watching the majority of national programs, you see players playing in teams around the world, which was not the case until recently,” he said in an interview in November.

“The best teams did not have so much room to grow, while the lower teams are starting to make interesting and important progress. This levels a lot and makes the matches of the contests tighter.”

With AFP entrances