International Football
AHEAD CLASH WITH NIGERIA; NO WORRIES OVER OUR WINLESS STREAK, SAYS BRAZIL’S CASEMIRO
Brazil may not have won in their last three matches, and while defensive midfielder Casemiro admitted the Selecao haven’t been at their best, most recently in Thursday’s 1-1 draw against Senegal at the National Stadium, he insisted there is no need to panic.
The stalemate comes after a 2-2 draw with Colombia and a 1-0 loss to Peru last month, and the last time Brazil failed to win in three straight games was in 2013.
But Casemiro assured Brazil fans that positive results will return, starting with the friendly against Nigeria on Sunday, when he said at the Brazil Global Tour press conference last night: “We have no doubts it wasn’t our best game.
“Everybody could see that, everyone expects Brazil to win every game we play, and we have an obligation to give our best in every match even if results may be beyond our control.
“But we also have to note these are friendlies, important games against strong African teams we may meet at the next World Cup. We need these games to try different players like Renan Lodi and Matheus Henrique and develop our tactics and strategy to help us for major assignments like the World Cup Qualifiers and Copa America, which we won.
“We are honest and we know that ourselves, that we need to do better. On Sunday, we have another match to show our quality, to show why we are in the national team. We will analyse our match against Senegal to see what we need to improve on.”
These will include getting more goals out of their front line and making sure their defence can keep pace with speedy attackers.
To be fair to the Brazilians, in the bigger scheme of things, the defeat by Peru is the only reverse in their last 19 games since their quarter-final loss to Belgium at last year’s World Cup.
Casemiro said: “The good thing is coach Tite knows what to do. He is trying to play us in roles which we are already playing at club level, and I think this will get the best results from us because we are in the national team for doing well with our clubs.”
Even as a star-studded Brazil side – featuring the world’s most expensive footballer Neymar, and the likes of Roberto Firmino, Gabriel Jesus, Philippe Coutinho and Dani Alves – threw away the lead on Thursday, the second time they have done so in their last three games, Casemiro rejected the notion they face a mental block as they plot to end a 20-year drought and win a record sixth world title at Qatar 2022.
The 27-year-old Real Madrid man said: “I feel 80 per cent of football is a mental game. It is something our coaches always tell us – if we are mentally strong, we can have a great match. We won the Copa America this year, which shows we are on the right track.”
Casemiro did express his surprise at playing in a half-empty stadium against Senegal on Thursday when the official attendance was 20,621, and hopes more will show up tomorrow.
He said: “I don’t know why it happened because the hotels are always full of fans waiting for us. Sure, we want to always play in front of a lot of fans but our responsibility is to do our best whether there is a crowd or not.”
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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