In Salvador, Dorival takes stock of the cycle in the selection: ‘I’m not happy, we could be better’

After being eliminated in the last World Cup, three names passed through the technical command of the Brazilian team: Ramon Menezes, Fernando Diniz and Dorival Júnior, the current commander of Amarelinha. This Tuesday (19), the coach completes his 14th match under the command of Brazil against Uruguay, at Arena Fonte Nova. Despite recognizing an improvement in collective performance, Dorival admitted that he is still not satisfied.

Having taken command of the Brazilian team in March this year, the coach’s work began with good results against England and Spain, which generated expectations about the new cycle. During the year, there was still time for Brazil to be eliminated in the Copa América. The elimination, along with the lower performance on the field, was the trigger for the work to be flooded with criticism.

Looking back at the season, Dorival explained that the team is going through a period of renewal, as a transition is being made for new players to take the lead, such as Vinícius Júnior and Raphinha. Even recognizing the scenario found, the coach admitted that he knew what he would find.

“It’s not a simple job. We had a generation that ended with the World Cup and we lost important players. The start was promising, the Copa América was a different competition, a series of factors explain it. It’s a recovery process that has been going on, but I believe that the team has evolved a lot both technically and collectively. The results still need to be better and I recognize that. I’m not happy, we could still be much better”, he began.

Until the next World Cup, in 2026, Brazil will still have at least 13 games in the cycle. Thus, the match against Uruguay marks the halfway point of the current cycle. Lack of training, few games and cuts due to injuries were listed by the coach to explain the delay in getting up to speed in the football played by Amarelinha. However, the former São Paulo coach stated that the team will be collectively prepared for the main tournament.

To give an example, Dorival commented on the 1982 Brazilian team. He even took advantage of the presence of former left-back Júnior in the Fonte Nova press room. “He played very consistently. In addition to all the stars they had, they played a friendly match every month. A pattern was then created,” he said.

Among the eleven that will start against the Uruguayans, two Brazilians are in the spotlight due to their regularity in the season. Dressed in shirts seven and 10, Vini Jr. and Raphinha are the current technical references within the team. If the Real Madrid player finished second in the race for the Ballon d’Or, the Barcelona attacking midfielder is going through a great phase, being one of the main names at the start of the season for the team coached by Hansi Flick.

Despite the high performance shown at clubs, only Raphinha is managing to take responsibility with the yellow shirt. In Dorival’s words, Vinícius is still maturing and still needs to go through stages to become the best version of himself. The coach also made a point of highlighting the differences between playing for the Spanish club and representing the Brazilian team.

“All teams are different collectively. Each player has a way of playing within their clubs. Other players were charged in this way, to present a higher performance. What I demand most is collective performance. Individually, it depends on him”, he gave the message.

Against Venezuela, Vinícius Júnior even started well, as did the entire Brazilian starting team. However, as the game progressed, the team’s performance declined. The drop in performance was “crowned” with the penalty missed by number seven, who also failed to take advantage of the rebound. If a new opportunity arises, Dorival revealed that Raphinha will be responsible for the charge.