By Emilio Rappold Jul 25, 2006, 14:57 GMT
Rio de Janeiro - Maybe Brazil's football leadership had Juergen Klinsmann in mind when they appointed Carlos Dunga national team coach.
Like the German forward, Dunga played at Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart. And like Klinsmann, he has no coaching experience which made his appointment Monday a total surprise.
Klinsmann became Germany coach in 2004. He turned a poor German side into a team of winners which played the most attractive football at the recent World Cup on home ground and was awarded with third place amid national euphoria.
Now Dunga is to inject the same enthusiasm into Brazil, the big pre-tournament favourite which went out in the quarter-finals against France.
'The choice of Dunga will completely satisfy the desires of Brazilian fans who want an enthusiastic coach on the national team,' Brazil football federation (CBF) boss Carlos Teixeira said in a statement.
That's exactly what Dunga, whose full name is Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri, has in mind after succeeding Carlos Alberto Parreira.
'I want the Brazil players to show the determination I showed as a player. Emotion, desire and a determination to win are crucial when you wear the Brazil jersey,' he said.
Dunga won 116 caps as a firm defensive midfielder, captaining Brazil to the 1994 World Cup trophy which ended a 24-year title drought at the showcase event. But he was also part of the 1990 team which went out in the round of 16 against Argentina and the 1998 team which was beaten 3-0 in the final against hosts France.
Apart from Stuttgart, his club career also saw him play in Italy at Fiorentina, Pisa and Pescara, in Japan at Jubilo Iwata and in Brazil at Internacional where his career started and ended.
Dunga's appointment Monday came out of the blue as ex-coach Wanderley Luxemburgo and Paulo Autuori, who took Sao Paulo to the Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup title in 2005, were the other contenders. The number 1 candidate, Luiz Felipe Scolari, who led Brazil to the 2002 World Cup title, chose to stay in Portugal.
The reactions to Dunga's appointment in football-mad Brazil were far from an outburst of joy.
An internet survey of the Folha de Sao Paulo daily saw 60 per cent opposing the move and ex-coach Emerson Leao also had his reservations.
'It's better not to say anything. But I can say that I am perplexed,' he said.
Former national team player Oscar said that Dunga can only succeed if he really manages to transform his leadership qualifies from his playing days into the coaching experience.
'A good coach must have the courage to bench Ronaldinho or Ronaldo if they are not playing well,' Oscar said in reference to the two top stars who disappointed badly at the World Cup.
Coming off what was rated a World Cup disaster at home, Brazil will be expected to do well from Dunga's first match onwards, an August 16 friendly in Oslo against Norway - a team that has beaten Brazil in the past.
While Klinsmann had two years to turn Germany into a winning team, Dunga's first major test comes next year at the Copa America.
But Teixeira went one step further, saying the selection of Dunga was part of a big reconstruction process looking ahead at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 2014 edition which could take place in Brazil.
New players are to be brought in to re-inject life into the ageing team, with a close cooperation planned between Dunga and Brazil's youth teams.
The youth recipe worked for Klinsmann's Germans, but the Estado daily pointed out that Brazil failed in their first attempt with a somewhat 'German' approach.
Seemingly inspired by Franz Beckenbauer's 1990 World Cup title as Germany coach, Brazil appointed its skillful ex-player Falcao as coach the same year.
However, he lasted a mere 16 matches of which he won only six.
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