Diniz rules out conflict of interest in the national team – 07/05/2023 – Sport

With profuse use of the word “ethics” and without mentioning Carlo Ancelotti, the president of the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation), Ednaldo Rodrigues, officially presented Fernando Diniz as the national team’s coach. The coach gave an interview this Wednesday (5) at the entity’s headquarters, in Barra da Tijuca, in Rio de Janeiro.

Rodrigues made just one statement in which he emphasized how the choice of Diniz, also hired from Fluminense, was guided by ethics. He didn’t answer questions.

The only concrete information that is the coach signed a contract for one year. It has not been announced whether the replacement will be the Italian Carlo Ancelotti, with whom the CBF has a verbal agreement, who will lead the team in the 2024 Copa America, in the United States and what are the plans for the Olympic team, which in January will compete in the classification for the Paris Games.

“My contract is for 12 months. It hasn’t been decided yet whether it includes the Copa América. I know about the CBF’s planning and I’m not here to say what will happen after me”, says Diniz, freeing himself from questions about Ancelotti, who has an agreement with Real Madrid-ESP until the end of the next European season.

In an interview that was guided by possible conflicts of interest, since he will also continue as coach of Fluminense, he promised to maintain the same style of purposeful play and ball-playing in the national team that got him there.

While acknowledging that the ethical issue can be subjective and that he will be concerned first and foremost with the national team, he said he will look at the bigger picture of football before putting together the squads.

“I’m going to reproduce what brought me here. I’m going to have the best raw material in the world to execute the ideas I have in the best way”, he guarantees. “Ethics will guide my decisions. I have to deliberate on what I can deliberate. I am very calm and on this point the CBF pointed to the right person.”

“My subjective criteria will be based on my ethics. You have to see what is best for the CBF and see the whole scenario. There is always someone questioning one thing or another. People assume there will be a conflict of interest thinking that I don’t have ethics. My career is much more filled with criticism than praise, for my way of seeing football and life.”

This means the arrival of what became known as “dinizismo” to the selection.

It is his way of seeing football and his work, which he recognizes as transforming him into a unique character.

“I accept my uniqueness and I couldn’t do it differently. I do exactly what I feel, but for me it’s a common thing. Trying to improve, seeing the team. It may be something different in the eyes of others, but I try to do simply what I want. I believe”, he told FluTV.

Dinizismo was best known for its resistance to leaving the defense with long throws. The order is to exchange short passes, regardless of the circumstances of the match. But it’s not just that. It’s the constant pressure, trying to impose yourself, the speed of passes and movement. The belief in offensive football. These are characteristics that made him be praised and criticized in the same intensity.

Praised for its philosophy, it has already been mocked for its lack of results. In the Brazilian 2020, São Paulo had seven points in the lead during the second round and wasted it. At clubs like Vasco, Santos and in his first spell at Fluminense (in 2019), he ended up being the target of complaints for the intransigence of ideas. For not having a plan B when something goes wrong.

Although he declined to speak about Ancelotti, the new national team coach ruled out seeking advice from the Italian on game formations and squads. He said he had full autonomy from the CBF for this.

Initially, he will manage the team in six matches for the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers. And he made it clear how much Neymar is part of his plans.

“Neymar is almost an aberration. He is a super-talent that takes a long time for another one to appear. We have to make the most of a talent like that”, he analyzed.

The striker left in the air the possibility of not playing in the next World Cup, when he will be 34 years old.

With few titles of expression in the curriculum, but champion of Rio de Janeiro this year with Fluminense, Diniz asked that the work be valued more than the result. For him, it’s childish to look for heroes and villains all the time.

In 14 years as a coach, he also won the 2009 Copa Paulista and Série A3 (with Votoraty) and the same 2010 Copa Paulista (Paulista de Jundiaí). Since 2018 he has been working for elite clubs in the country, such as Athletico, São Paulo, Santos and Vasco, in addition to Fluminense.

“We keep demonizing everyone who loses, it seems like a childish desire to look for heroes and villains all the time. We have to value those who do things right, those who have the courage to do things. Life will never give you certainty of winning. The coach’s job is always to increase the chances of his team winning. But uncertainty will always be part of the game.”

The coach himself has joked, in the few interviews he usually gives, that he has a dual personality. Fernando Diniz at the edge of the field is different from everyday life. When he stood out as a coach, in the 2016 Audax Vice Paulista campaign, he even banned journalists from entering training sessions. Not out of a desire to hide lineup or tactical options. But for the press not to hear the profanity he shouted at the athletes.