Brazil shocked most of the soccer world on Nov. 23 when the country’s football confederation (CBF) announced that national team manager Mano Menezes had been fired. It was announced that a new manager will be named in January. The timing is a little odd to many Brazilian fans since the country will be hosting the Confederations Cup in about seven months time and the World Cup a year later. The Confederations Cup is used as a trial run for the World Cup.
Menezes took over the team in 2010 just after it was eliminated from the World Cup in South Africa. He replaced former boss Dunga, but couldn’t beat the top teams in the world such as Germany and Holland. Menezes was also criticized for turning the creative and tacking team into a more boring and defensive unit.
Brazil hasn’t hosted a World Cup since 1950 and the CBF is more or less desperate to make sure it wins the trophy while hosting the tournament. The nation has earned a spot in every World Cup tournament in history and has also won it a record five times. Menezes leaves the team after managing it for 40 games. His record was 27 wins, seven losses and six ties.
However, since Brazil is hosting the 2014 World Cup, the team didn’t have to qualify for the event. This means the team hasn’t had any competitive games to play in the lead up to the tournament and has been playing some of the world’s weaker sides in exhibition games, such as Iraq and China. When the team faced global soccer powers such as Spain, Holland, and Germany, it often struggled.
In addition, Brazil was eliminated from the Copa America tournament last year and lost to Mexico in the Gold medal game at this summer’s Olympic Games in London, England. The team is unusually low in FIFA’s world rankings at the moment as it’s in 13th place and Menezes has been booed by Brazilian fans in recent games. The lowest the team has ever been ranked is 14th and the fans obviously aren’t happy with the current situation.
Menezes certainly wasn’t popular with some former players either. Former national team star Romario said he shouldn’t have been fired long ago and Brazilian soccer fans should be celebrating in the streets with fireworks. Things did look better recently for the team though, as it managed to beat arch rivals Argentina on penalty kicks in Buenos Aires just two days before the manager was let go. They’ve also won six of their last eight games overall and have scored 26 goals during those contests.
Most fans felt Menezes knew what was coming, and after the announcement was made he thanked his staff and the players by posting a message to his Twitter account. He also wished the team the best of luck in the 2014 World Cup and hoped they could lift the trophy for a sixth time. It’s been reported that former Brazil manager Luiz Felipe Scolari could take over the team. He was in charge in 2002, which is the last time Brazil won the World Cup. Former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola has also been named as a possible replacement. Whoever gets the job will be under tremendous pressure and will start their career with a game at London’s Wembley Stadium against England on Feb. 6.
Ian Palmer
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