Check out Dorival Júnior’s journey to the national team – 01/09/2024 – Sports

Until a few years ago, the name of Dorival Júnior, 61, rarely appeared among those most likely to take over as coach of the Brazilian national team.

Despite successful campaigns that earned him seven state titles throughout his career, his most remembered work in the 2010s was his fights against relegation, as was the case with Palmeiras, in 2014, and São Paulo, in 2017.

His announcement as the replacement for Fernando Diniz, chosen by the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) to lead the five-time champion team until the 2026 World Cup, if it does not cause the same enthusiasm as the name of great European coaches, it is also not surprising.

After maturing his work with the teams that fought at the bottom of the league table, Dorival Júnior has established himself as one of the most successful coaches in the country in recent years.

The São Paulo native from Araraquara, who had some prominence as a midfielder between the 1980s and 1990s in teams like Palmeiras, Grêmio and Botafogo-SP, arrived at Flamengo in the middle of 2022 and managed to put the team back on the path to titles, after winning zero cups by predecessors Paulo Sousa and Renato Gaúcho.

He reaped the rewards of making the bet requested by the fans for some time to select Pedro and Gabigol together in the attack, supported by a midfield with Arrascaeta and Everton Ribeiro. Betting on this formation, the coach won the second Brazilian Cup of his career and triumphed in the Copa Libertadores in 2022.

Despite the titles and the appreciation of the players, it ended up being raffled off by the red and black board, who were looking for a more branded name. The chosen one was the Portuguese Vítor Pereira, who was fired months later.

In his next job, at São Paulo, Dorival lifted another Brazilian Cup against Flamengo, who was led by another famous name, the Argentine Jorge Sampaoli.

The good moment paved the way for the invitation to the Brazilian team, a wish made by Dorival in a post made on social media on Sunday (7).

“I leave São Paulo, today, ready to face the challenges of the season. On the right path and with great people and professionals guiding them”, wrote Dorival. “The time has come to face another challenge, which was also one of my dreams, and I ask that everyone understands my decision.”

At the head of the Brazilian team, in addition to living with the constant instability in the leadership of the CBF, Dorival will have the challenge of recovering the team from the bad phase in which 2023 ended.

With Fernando Diniz, Brazil accumulated negative marks on the field, such as the unprecedented sequence of three defeats in the Qualifiers, which left the team in sixth place – the last one that guarantees a direct place in the World Cup.

In the national team, the coach must also work with Neymar again for the first time since he was involved in one of the biggest controversies of his career.

In 2010, Dorival was fired from Santos, even after having won the Campeonato Paulista and the Copa do Brasil, in a lost fight against Neymar. He prevented the then young striker from taking a penalty and removed him from the team for his reaction against the coaching staff.

“I think I’m doing what’s best for the athlete. For the club, perhaps, but it’s what’s best for the athlete,” said Dorival at the time, in reference to the decision to keep the striker away from the starting lineup – which ended up resulting in his resignation.

14 years after the episode, the two must meet again at very different moments in their careers. Dorival is experiencing his peak, in the position he always wanted as coach of the Brazilian national team, while Neymar is far from his best phase, in a league with little expression in world football and with a return to the pitch only expected in the second half of the year due to an injury.

X-ray | Dorival Junior, 61

New coach of the Brazilian national team, he was born in Araraquara, on April 25, 1962. He worked in the 1980s and 1990s as a midfielder for teams such as Guarani, Palmeiras, Grêmio, Botafogo-SP, Avaí and Juventude. As a coach, he was state champion seven times, three times champion of the Copa do Brasil and once champion of the Copa Libertadores.