Dunga wants Dungas

In his characteristic blunt style, which the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) is trying to smooth, Dunga recognizes that the wave of star players is receding, attacks the Pelé Act regulating the game and says there are many players who are more concerned with their image than the ball. “Organization” was the word he most repeated in this interview given in his new office in Rio de Janeiro where he recited his usual phrases and quotes from his idol, Nelson Mandela.

LIFE WITHOUT STARS
Selecting a team completely made up of very young players will not resolve the problem. That 7-1 result against Germany was a one-off bad event and is not the end of our football by any means. I don´t think we need to begin from scratch. The contact with more experienced players is important for the new ones so they can experience the taste of winning and growing. We have good players today who could even become stars but Neymar is the highlight. However, talents like him, Romário or Ronaldo don´t appear every day. That´s why we have to discover more Dungas, more Jorginhos and Mauros Silva to form a strong, compact, battling group. Organization is important.

GREATER EFFORT
Everybody talks about the great idols of the Cup in 1970 — Pelé, Jairzinho, Carlos Alberto — as if the trophy had only been won on talent. It went much further. That was a well-organized team that knew how to defend, attack and was prepared physically. The 1994 team may not have been as technical but it was organized, had defenders who crossed, and played a diversified game. I think it´s clear that we need to make greater efforts. We can´t plant the idea in a 14-year-old boy´s head that he is a genius and will win everything without scoring or running.

GERMAN SCHOOL
Football has always been planned and had a great structure to fall back on in Germany. What really made the difference in the World Cup was this exceptional crop of players. The manager made substitutions throughout the competition and the standard remained the same. If the team finds a way of playing, regardless of the manager, it will win. Germany was the most consistent team in the World Cup and deserved the trophy. However, football is a funny game. If Argentina had won that game, we would all be talking about it and, anyway, what is football in Argentina really like?

BUMP IN THE ROAD
To carry out a real revolution to improve Brazilian football, we need to start by reviewing the Pelé Act (which states that the pass belongs to the player and not the club). In the past, the player who was groomed in the lower categories arrived in the first team aged 22 or 23 when he was ready technically, tactically and psychologically. Nowadays, those who are outstanding head off to Europe when they are 18. The result is bad for the player, who is immature and often remains on the substitute bench abroad, and for the club. There is no point in a team investing in 2,000 boys over 10 or 15 years to discover a gem and when the time comes for him to start performing brilliantly the club loses him.

TOO MANY TEARS
A show of tears, as in the game against Chile, does not go well with football. We are macho types and have the idea that a real man doesn´t cry but we need to learn to respect those who do. As for Thiago Silva not wanting to take a penalty, the situation was really difficult. You think: if I miss, I can´t come back to Brazil anymore. At least, he was honest and had the courage to say he was not ready. However, what I did not like was that gesture when everybody wore a baseball cap with “Força, Neymar” (“All the best, Neymar”) written on it. It sent out the message that we had lost a warrior. The point is that if we are going to war, we cannot keep crying about losses. We have to give strength to the soldier who has entered in his place.

FEELING THAT “WE HAVE ALREADY WON”
Pressure always appears. In 1994, for example, we felt the weight of a team that had not won a title for over two decades. We suffered as a result  of this. The idea that we would win this World Cup, for the sixth time, toppled us. It took on an absurd dimension in the streets. The fact is that from the age of 10 or 12, the boy is already beginning to deal with the pressure in football. I don´t know whether psychology can resolve this. I have nothing against it but we are always suspicious about it. It would be hard for a player to open up in five minutes. The first thing he will think is:  “Will the psychologist tell the trainer what I have said?”

“I DON´T LIKE EARRINGS”
There are players who are investing much more in their image than on the field. The guy wants to have two earrings, wears a baseball cap the wrong way round and ends up losing the focus on the job. The player is always in the spotlight. If he wins, that´s OK. However, as he is not always going to win, he creates an unnecessary load of expectation. Furthermore, when he puts on the national team strip, he is no longer an individual. Players need to understand that. I won´t ban this kind of thing. People say I´m hard but I´ve never banned anything. I just make it crystal clear: “If you go in that direction, then assume the consequences”. The worst thing to do is make decisions for others.

BEING FIRED
When I was fired after the defeat in the 2010 World Cup, I was disappointed. Nevertheless that´s how things are in Brazil; you didn´t win so you are out. It´s part of the game. I don´t have any regrets over my work with that team. There was a lot of talk that I had not chosen Adriano but I tried. I spoke to him in England and we made a deal. A week later he started missing training at Flamengo and I decided to leave him out of the squad. Even today people complain that I did not take Neymar and Ganso to South Africa. However, we did not lose because one or other player was missing. We lost because of our mistakes. Failure leaves a mark. Look what they did with Barbosa, the goalkeeper in the defeat by Uruguay in 1950. Everyone now says he is forgiven but that´s pure demagogy. They spent 60 years attacking the guy. Yet if you look at the winning shot, you can see that it was not only his fault.

THE RETURN
I don´t see any of this rejection in the street that the surveys show. Of 10 people interviewed, 10 are against me. Not even Judas faced this. They were saying it was time for Tite to become manager. They always say it is time for someone else. Now it´s mine.

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