There was only one man who had the power to stop Brazil’s magnificent attacking machine at this World Cup. And he is Brazilian.
Departing head coach Dunga did a better job of stymieing the creative talents of his players than any opponent at this World Cup, including the outstanding Netherlands side that racked up a fully deserved 2-1 quarterfinal victory in Port Elizabeth on Friday.
It was the day the Samba spirit died. The day when the memory of Pele’s eternal magnificence was darkened by a type of soccer totally at odds with the glorious Brazilian brand that has been proudly maintained for generations. And the day when spirit, enterprise and flair – those treasured tenets of South American style – were used to winning effect, but by the Dutch.
Two Netherlands goals and the callous kick on an opponent that got Felipe Melo sent off were merely the manner by which the defeat was handed down. The reason for it was standing by the dugout, with fury etched on his face and fists clenched so tight that the knuckles whitened.
Dunga had the keys to the kingdom in his pocket from the very start of this tournament. While boasting the best all-round collection of ability of any team on the planet didn’t mean he could send his side out to play as they pleased, when it came to interference, less should certainly have been more.
Instead, Dunga tore up the blueprint for Brazilian soccer and tried to instill an alien agenda of brute force into a lineup that performs best when its toes are twinkling and some level of creative freedom is permitted.
This might have been a group of familiar faces wearing a familiar shirt. But this wasn’t Brazil. Not the Brazil the soccer world has come to know and love.
This was a collection of individuals who looked utterly perplexed by the roughhouse tactics encouraged by their coach. By the end it was a ragtag mob of seething, bickering and argumentative men who looked so disjointed that you could scarcely believe this was some of the world’s elite talent.
Melo’s red card for stepping on Arjen Robben as he lay on the ground was fully justified and encapsulated in a single moment the intense frustration the team was going through. The seed for it had been set in the locker room and it took just two minutes for it to filter through.
Brazil often begins a game with a bang, but normally does so with impudent skill and deft touch. Against the Netherlands, Brazil began the game with Gilberto Silva and Michel Bastos both clattering into opponents for the clumsiest of fouls.
The physicality continued and amid it all, Brazilian soccer was lost. Even after Robinho put the side ahead after 10 minutes with a beautifully taken finish, the typical verve, spirit and style we have come to expect from Brazil was absent.
Defeat and the ensuing four-year wait before trying again is painful enough for any nation. For a five-time champion like Brazil, there is only one outcome that is ever considered acceptable. Dunga knows that as well as anyone and this failure, or more accurately the way it transpired, forced him to resign before surely being fired.
He trod his own path and strode away from the most tried and tested soccer system the world has ever seen. And, with the power to curtail and not create at his fingertips, he chose the wrong option.
