Olympics 2008 News
Dunga: There are days you can stop Messi "and days you cannot"
Aug 19, 2008, 16:24 GMT
Beijing - Brazilian coach Carlos Dunga admitted Tuesday that his men were unable to defend in the face of striker Lionel Messi, one of Argentina's stars in the 3-0 win over Brazil in the semifinals of the Beijing Olympics.
'Messi is a superstar and we had discussed how to stop him. But there are days that you can stop him and days you cannot. When individual talent shows like that up you cannot do much. The tactics did not work,' said Dunga.
The coach was on the line after the painful defeat - as Brazil sought its first-ever Olympic football gold medal - although he said he would not resign.
'This defeat increases the pressure on our work. It is a delicate time, but we have to keep working hard and stand by our convictions. In the final of the Copa America we beat Argentina 3-0, and now it was our turn to lose,' Dunga said.
'The match was very even when they scored the first goal. Then things got complicated, but I still have confidence in my work,' the coach stressed.
Brazil is set to play Belgium for third place Friday, while Argentina will face Nigeria in Saturday's final.
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Older Talkback
page: 1
Messi is a superstar...Then what are ronaldinho, pato and anderson??? Stop making lousy excuses for your lousy coaching skill dunga.
Biased referee, gave all the yellows and reds only to brazil...messi constantly delayed play by standing over the ball and ref gave him nothing. Maradona would have been happy to see his legacy of cheating by scoring with hands being carried on against brazil. Dirty argentina are in the final.
Hey Mike, which game have you been watching. Do you know anything about football mate?
Every minor foul was sanctioned for Brazil in the first half. The uruguayan referee was very permissive with brazilian players at the first half and there were more than 2 players who should have been kicked out way before he showed the red card to the other two.
And about delaying... dude...seriously...have you ever seen a football match in your life.
Go read what people wrote on Red O Globo (Brazil) mate, that could give you a tip why Argentina won the game.
Pato and Anderson better than Messi? Are you kidding? Messi is one of the best three players in the world (if not the best) I don't think you have seen him playing. However, it was very cheap of Dunga to come up with that statement after the game because, even if it was true, Brazil has a reputation and pride in world football, with stars of its own, and I think that that comment from Dunga wasn´t very well received by Brazilians. I never liked Dunga as manager for Brazil, he makes them play against their essence, with ugly and defensive football. They only won the Copa America final because played counter-attack to a full-attacking Argentina (which was a better team) but this time around Argentineans didn't repeat their mistake.
hey diego and oscar 'mate' ...the only time argentina can beat brazil is in a non fifa sanctioned mickey nouse tournament. Why dont you goto goal.com and read some pieces there, where you will find objective views on argentina and their cheating, instead of anti-dunga globo crap. Of course Pato is better than Messi, same as messi is better than ronaldinho.
I dont know what planet diego and oscar live on but everyone knows uruguay hate brazil...and the ref made sure his 'fave' team made it to the final...hope nigeria rip argentina apart same as 1996.
Oh, Jason-coming-from-a-country-with-great-history-playing-soccer.
Mate, you should read goal.com too...seriously, but mostly, you should learn how to play soccer first before starting with your babling-yada-dayda stuff. Brazil is a big lie since a long time ago. They have no team, just a few great players that don't 'feel the colors', that's all.
This game shows Dunga is NOT the right man for brazil,sure.But he say brave words.To say they had discussed how to stop messi shows he is pushing brazil in the wrong direction. When you have a team loaded with the talents of pato , ronaldino, hernanes and anderson, its the other team that should be trying to figure out how to stop brazil! Brazils olympic side have mirrored dungas senior side, which is sad. If brazil had a dedicated olympic coach and team they would have done better...i hope they do so for the next olympics. Guys like pato and anderson are better than messi but dunga never gives them the chance to play their normal game, and all he says now is, 'you cant stop messi' SHAMEFUL SHAMEFUL SHAMEFUL very SHAMEFUL DUNGA.....
hey diego stop babbling man...argentina is a third world craphole, they can only beat brazil in unimportant tournaments like olympic soccer. You people come from a country of corruption, match fixing, and bribery. Why dont you go read some books without talking rubbish man.
how many goals will argentina win in these olympics? ZERO...nigeria will hammer them long haired argentina girls in the final. Diego you have a nice name, just like the drug addict maradona. Now go away and stop bothering people who want to talk about REAL football
Fantastic arguments - blaming the referee and playing down the Olympics, where Brazil has put everything into winning since it is the only major tournament they have not won yet. I will not comment on that since that argument falls apart by itself. Also saying that Pato is better than Messi shows how little you know of football - while Messi has been runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year in 2007, Pato could not even get a place in the starting eleven of his club. But besides that, you only have to watch them both play to see that Messi right now is one level above everybody else - thus Dunga's comments. Also I don't have to watch any site to read anybody's opinions to make them my own - I know and play football and I comment on what I see and not on what others say.
dunga biatch...rajiv biatch...even the brazilians are admired by messi..go and see the replay of the brazil argentina qualifying match held in brazil last month ...fans are booeing brazilian players and coach...messi received standing ovation....rajiv you sucks....everybody knows messi's talent so dont mess with him...cos he is a messiah
Mike, last time Argentina and Brazil played against eachother was Italia 90.
What does have to do corruption with this game. If you want to talk about politics we can talk about genocides and fake wars too. Oh, but that's not corruption sorry. Shut up. Let's talk about football.
Brazil fixed the two last world cups they won, check their matches one by one.
So...tell me... when is the last time your national team won ... like... anything? Go play some basketball...
Nigeria is a great team, they really are great and hard to beat. But don't give me the Brazil lie now. Brazil sucks ass since long time ago. They are a marketing crap and they showed it. Go ask brazilians what they think (including Lula who spoke yesterday about it).
page: 1
Rajiv USAAug 19th, 2008 - 19:41:38
Brave words from dunga but this game shows he is NOT the right man for brazil. To say they had discussed how to stop messi shows he is pushing brazil in the wrong direction. When you have a team loaded with the talents of pato , ronaldino, hernanes and anderson, its the other team that should be trying to figure out how to stop brazil! Brazils olympic side have mirrored dungas senior side, which is sad. If brazil had a dedicated olympic coach and team they would have done better...i hope they do so for the next olympics. Guys like pato and anderson are better than messi but dunga never gives them the chance to play their normal game, and all he says now is, 'you cant stop messi' SHAMEFUL.
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