Reports say Scolari has been asked to quit, Fred retires as Brazilian nightmare continues
Brazilian media say the local football confederation has decided to drop luiz Felipe Scolari as Brazil head coach. Globo TV and other news outlets said early Monday that Scolari will not remain as coach after the national team’s failure to win the World Cup at home.
Scolari said Saturday after Brazil’s 3-0 loss to The Netherlands in the third-place match that he was handing over the team’s command and that it would be up to the Brazil confederation to decide whether he would continue.
Globo said the confederation’s official announcement would be made later Monday.
Delfim Peixoto, elected as a confederation vice presidents for 2015, confirmed the information to the UOl web news portal, saying he was told by top officials thatScolari will not stay as coach.
Meanwhile, Brazilian striker Fred has announced his retirement from international football at the age of 30 after a poor show in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The Fluminense striker took the decision after Brazil finished fourth following their 0-3 loss to the The Netherlands in the third-place play-off match.
The 30-year-old striker was severely criticised for Brazil’s lacklustre performances during the World Cup, where he scored just once. Fred, along with fellow striker Hulk, cut a sorry figure during Brazil’s 1-7 thrashing against Germany in the semi-final.
Fred scored 18 goals for Brazil in 39 appearances since making his international debut in 2005. He was also booed by fans during Brazil’s shocking loss to Germany. Fred was top scorer with five goals at the Confederations Cup last year that Brazil won.
The Brazilian newspaper Estado de Sao Paulo quoted Fred as saying: “I am finished with the Selecao (national team).”
On Tuesday Fred was booed by sections of the Brazilian support in the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte during Brazil’s crushing 7-1 semi-final defeat by Germany.
And on Saturday, even though he was only on the substitutes’ bench during the third-place defeat by The Netherlands, some fans whistled when his face appeared on the giant stadium screens.
Fred said he feared becoming the sort of player who was booed by fans wherever he went.
“We were not good in the last two games,” he told the paper.
“But no single person was responsible for that. What I can say is that it was not only Fred’s fault.”
The World Cup held potential disaster for Brazil — the country, not the team.
Yet the country pulled of a magnificent tournament, albeit with a few bumps. It’s the team that has left many Brazilians wondering what went horribly wrong.
The cup was widely seen as theirs for the taking, especially on home turf. They leave the Cup in fourth place with their star badly injured and the brutal memory of a 7-1 rout by the Germans in front of a global audience.
The most successful nation in World Cup history has been eliminated in three straight tournaments, enough to raise questions about whether it’s doing the right things to keep up with countries that have dominated the sport in recent years.
It’s already clear Brazil won’t be the same after the home tournament.
A change in coach is almost certain, and new players will be joining Neymar and Oscar for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Critics say bigger changers are needed, including in the local football confederation.
The resounding 7-1 loss to Germany, which embarrassed the nation, could become a turning point for the national team. The semifinal defeat has everyone thinking about the need to rebuild.
“We failed. We didn’t play up to expectations, we know it wasn’t a good tournament,” said striker Neymar, who missed the last two matches because of a back injury. “We didn’t play the kind of football that the Brazilian national team plays. It was just regular, and that’s why we still reached the semifinals, but it wasn’t Brazilian football, not the kind of football that enchants everybody.”
Brazil never displayed its traditional “Jogo Bonito,” or “Beautiful Game,” and ended the tournament with three wins, two draws and two losses, including 3-0 to The Netherlands in the third-place match on Saturday.
“Brazilian football has to evolve in general,” right back Dani Alves said.
“We can’t discredit the work that has been done by this team, but we have to find a way to start restructuring our football from the youth levels up.”
The president of the Brazilian confederation, Jose Maria Marin, had said that losing the World Cup at home would be like “going to hell.”
“We need to think football differently,” said Brazilian coach Paulo Autuori, who led Sao Paulo to the Club World Cup title in 2005.
“We need the Brazilian confederation in the hands of people from football. We need people in charge who can think football.”
Marin, a former politician, is leaving the confederation next year and will be replaced by Sao Paulo state federation president Marco Paulo Del Nero. Both were politically linked to Ricardo Teixeira, who ruled the confederation for more than 20 years before resigning in 2012 citing medical reasons and amid a cloud of allegations of corruption and irregularities in his administration.
Del Nero had said he would like Scolari to stay as the head of the national team despite his failure to win the title at home, but Marin was expected to announce on Monday that the confederation will not keep the coach after the World Cup. Scolarihad said it would be up to the confederation to decide whether he would continue.
Scolari was picked to lead the 2014 team mostly because of his popularity and experience from the 2002 title, but many critics said he was outdated as a coach. Before rejoining the national team, the coach was relegated in the Brazilian league with Palmeiras.
“We should thank him, but we need to choose new people with new thoughts about how to play the Brazilian way,” said former Brazil star Zico, who also blamed Brazil’s problems “on poor administration, a lack of structure and a vacuum of leadership.”
Scolari said Brazil is going through a period in which there are “fewer young promising players” in the country, and said that the confederation needs to “keep working” to make sure more appear in the future.