In the last match of 2024, the Brazilian team left a 1-1 draw with Uruguay amid boos and protests, at Arena Fonte Nova. From the stands with empty spaces due to high ticket prices, there were those who ignored Neymar’s injury and asked for his return, perhaps as a form of provocation or despair.
The scenario, on Tuesday night (19), in Salvador, clashes with the excitement with Dorival upon his debut in March this year. On the 23rd of that month, Brazil defeated England 1-0 at Wembley, in London. Brazil had come from four games without a win, at the time led by Fernando Diniz.
Afterwards, the yellow-green team drew 3-3 with Spain at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Just over three months later, on July 14th, Spain and England decided the Eurocup final. While Brazil, that same week, was eliminated by Uruguay in the quarter-finals of the Copa América.
Football was no longer convincing, and Dorival had to deal with the first buzz of the year for being left out of the players’ circle before the penalty shootout against the Uruguayans began.
The coach ends his first season in charge of the national team with a 59% success rate in 14 matches — six wins, seven draws and one defeat. It is a better campaign than that of the duo Ramon Menezes and Fernando Diniz, the team’s interim coaches in 2023.
With Ramon and Diniz, the team suffered five defeats, recorded three wins and a draw, with a success rate of just 37%, one of the worst in the team’s history.
However, despite the numbers guaranteeing a simple advantage, Dorival is still looking for an ideal formation. The team displays defensive flaws, especially in marking, and has difficulties when finishing plays.
As symptoms of insecurity in command of the national team, Dorival called up 50 different players this year, 11 of which did not take the field.
“We are on a path, we want the result, but we have to be patient to find the ideal team, one that gives the fans more confidence”, said the coach, after the draw with Uruguay this Tuesday.
There were ten attackers called up, and the coach still hasn’t found solutions to get the best out of Vinicius Junior, the team’s main name today, and Rodrygo.
Tipped for the Ballon d’Or award, the Real Madrid striker has not scored for the national team since the 4-1 victory over Paraguay in the Copa América in June. He has yet to find the net in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, and even wasted a penalty in the draw with Venezuela on the 14th.
“We need to be more direct and incisive [na hora de definir as jogadas]. We’re still not in ideal shape, but we’re improving, I’m sure. That’s what we’re missing”, admits the coach.
With inefficiency in attack and defensive flaws, Brazil is only fifth in the World Cup qualifiers with 18 points in 12 matches — the first six go to the 2026 World Cup, and the seventh place competes in the play-offs. The team is seven points behind leaders Argentina.
The team could have ended the season in second place, had they not tied with second-to-last placed Venezuela or Uruguay at home. Today, ahead of Brazil, Uruguay has 20 points, while Ecuador and Colombia have 19 each.
“We, Brazilians, always look at the negative side of things: ‘Brazil only moved up one position’. And I see it on the other hand, I wouldn’t be satisfied if we were in second place, due to a missing goal. We are still in a process” , said Dorival.
The coach has already said that the team is improving and that the results will come naturally as a way of avoiding questions from the press and CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) directors.
It is known that the entity’s president, Ednaldo Rodrigues, only hired Dorival after announcing the Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti, who in turn chose to remain at Real Madrid.
As a way of convincing him that he is doing a good job, Dorival brought to the public this Thursday statements from Marcelo Bielsa, coach of Uruguay and considered one of the football gurus of Pep Guardiola, from Manchester City.
“I wouldn’t say that so as not to expose him (Bielsa) or promote myself, but at the entrance of the two teams, Bielsa said that he was impressed with what he was seeing from the national team and the changes we had made. Starting from his person, the positions he he did, I agree exactly”, stated Dorival.
The team returns to the field in March 2025, when they will host Colombia on the 20th and visit Argentina, on the 25th.
