Brazil presented their new coach: Dorival Júnior has already warned that they will have to “learn to play without Neymar”

The Brazilian Dorival Junior This Thursday he took over the technical direction of Brazil’s selectionwith an appeal to “rediscover” the path to victory, in the midst of a sporting and institutional crisis.

“With Brazilian football we have learned the path to victory and we must find it again”said the San Paolo coach, 61 years oldduring its official presentation in Rio de Janeiro.

“Is this a difficult moment we are going through? Yes, but nothing impossible to reverse quickly”he added at the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) after signing the contract that binds him to the five-time world champions until after the 2026 World Cup.

Although his presentation took place this Thursday, the CBF officially announced him as the replacement on Wednesday Fernando Dinizin office from July until last Friday, with poor results in South American qualifiers towards the 2026 World Cup, as Canarinha is sixth in the standings with two wins, one draw and three defeats, all consecutive.

The words of Dorival Júnior as Brazil’s new coach

Off the field, the CBF experienced a power crisis after its president, Ednaldo Rodrigues, was briefly removed from office due to a judicial snafu. The leader, who had guaranteed the arrival of Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti, finally returned to office last Thursday and fired Diniz the following day.

“Today I am here to represent the most victorious and champion team on the planet, the one that has inspired so many around the world, and which must, by obligation, do the same”said Dorival Júnior.

“Brazilian football is very strong, it reinvents itself, but it cannot live through a moment like the one it is going through. Maybe it will serve as a lesson for us to assimilate quickly and find a new path.”He added.

Dorival Júnior avoided naming the “culprits” of Brazil’s drought, which has not won the world title since 2002, and asked Brazilians to embrace the national team because disinterest in the team has increased in recent years. “They believe a little more in their selection”said the coach, who said he was “genuinely excited” to take on the job, after leading San Pablo until Sunday.

“I will do everything I can to get to the World Cup final,” he promised.

“We have to learn to play without Neymar”

Dorival Júnior also asked the players “feel the national team shirt a little more”to be able to develop the “attractive, well-played” and “effective” football that has made Brazil famous.

“We all need to understand a little more what the national team represents and, above all, everyone takes on their own responsibilities a little more from the moment they are called up”held.

The 61-year-old coach also reiterated this”“No problem” with Neymar, who he coached at Santos in 2010 and with whom he had a clash which culminated in the coach’s dismissal from his position at the time.

Injuring his left knee in October, Scratch’s all-time leading scorer, 31, will be absent from the Copa América, which will be played in the United States between June and July, according to the team doctor. In this sense, Dorival Jr. made it clear that they must learn not to always depend on 10: “We have to learn to play without Neymar, knowing that he is injured at the moment. He is one of the three best players in the world and then we will count on him”.

Champion of the 2022 Copa Libertadores with Flamengo and with more than twenty years of experience on the bench, Dorival Jr. will make his debut in March, in the friendlies that Brazil will play against England and Spain in Europe.