Jose Maria Marin, that’s the most powerful figure in Brazilian football, once declared: “We are the five-time World Cup winners. We have the best players in the world, we have the best coaches in the world. We have nothing to learn from other football backgrounds.”
The above statement of Marin has almost partially explained the decline of Brazilian football teams in the last two decades.
A year before the statement was so proud, Marin and his colleagues embarked on a search for a new coach for the Brazilian national team. The Marin advisory team is said to have rejected Pep Guardiola, who was seen as a potential candidate at the time.
After the great success with Barca, Pep Guardiola left to find a break. That was also the time when the Brazilian Football Federation wanted to find a new coach for the national team.
The Brazil team was in a panic. They said coach Carlos Dunga’s team showed some ugly football and could not bring success. Brazilians are deeply disappointed because even when they betray their egos they cannot win.
Mano Menezes replaced Dunga just 3 weeks after Selecao was eliminated from the 2010 World Cup. Menezes continued to disappoint. Brazil was eliminated by Paraguay in the quarter-finals of the Copa America, losing in the London Olympic final to Mexico. The Samba people’s dream of winning gold at the Olympics once again crumbled.
But then Marin rejected Pep on the grounds that Brazil must be led by Brazilians. And his brilliant speech a year later proved it. On the bench, Scolari lowered his head.
In the VIP stands area, Marin couldn’t believe his eyes. Scolari resigned a week after the match, and Marin was forced to leave the CBF chair more than a year later on charges of fraud.
The former Brazilian international, Tostao, then believed that it was time for the Brazilian team, even the football background, to change for new ideas. “We were left behind,” Tostao wrote.
Pep Guardiola has just completed his first year at Bayern Munich and was recognized by the Germans in the World Cup championship in Brazil. The Spanish coach has contributed greatly to improving Bayern as well as the playing style of the German team. The rejection year has become increasingly bitter to the Brazilians.
