Brazil arrive in London hoping this prestige friendly against England can mark the end of their leaderless drift and herald a positive new dawn.
It has been a sobering 15 months for the five-times champions of world football since defeat by Croatia in the World Cup quarter-finals in Qatar brought Tite’s six-year tenure to an underwhelming close.
There have been shock defeats and dismal performances, the failed attempt to lure Carlo Ancelotti away from Real Madrid and a revolving cast of head coaches culminating in Dorival Junior, who will take charge of his first game at Wembley Stadium.
Initially, the task fell to Ramon Menezes, coach of the U20 and U23 teams, to take over on an interim basis.
Dorival Junior is the man tasked with turning Brazil back into the giants they once were
The new national team manager will take charge of his first game of the side against England
It has been a year of turmoil for Brazil, who have had three men coach their side since Tite left
Menezes was in charge for three friendlies, which included defeats against Morocco and Senegal and prompted the CBF (Brazilian FA) to start issuing promises.
CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues told the nation Ancelotti would be taking the job when his Real Madrid contract expired in 2024, just in time for the Copa America, in the USA in June.
While they waited for the legendary Italian, Fernando Diniz was appointed to look after the Brazil team alongside his role as head coach of Fluminense.
‘He will be here, you can be sure,’ said Rodrigues of Ancelotti.
Fluminense has been one of the highlights of Brazilian football in recent years. They won the Copa Libertadores and reached the final of the Club World Cup, losing 4-0 to Manchester City, in December.
Diniz was at the helm for the start of the World Cup qualifying campaign, a 5-1 win against Bolivia, which drew high praise from journalists and fans.
Then came another win, 1-0 against Peru, but Brazil won none of the next four.
Tite left his role as manager after six years following defeat to Croatia at the Qatar World Cup
There had seemingly been an agreement in place for Carlo Ancelotti to take over the side
There was a draw against Venezuela and defeat to Uruguay followed by the Luis Diaz show, when the Liverpool forward scored twice for Colombia to register their first win against Brazil in South American qualifiers, with his father in the stands after he had been released by kidnappers.
To complete a miserable autumn schedule, Argentina won a 1-0 win at the Maracana to leave Brazil seventh in the qualification group with seven only points.
Meanwhile, CBF president Rodrigues was fighting another battle after being ousted from office in December when a court in Rio de Janeiro annulled the presidency election he had won, replacing him with an interim for a month.
A subsequent judicial ruling restored him to the role but, while he was out of office, Ancelotti signed a new contract at Real Madrid.
‘The reality is what everyone knows, and Real Madrid knows,’ said Ancelotti in January. ‘I had contact with the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation, Ednaldo Rodrigues. I want to thank him for the kindness and interest in me coaching the Brazilian national team, it made me very proud.
‘But it depended on my situation at Real Madrid – that is clear to everyone – and now Ednaldo Rodrigues is no longer the president of the CBF. That’s what happened. I appreciate the interest, but in the end it turned out as I wanted, to stay here.’
The deal collapsed when CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues (left) lost his position with Brazil
Rodrigues and Ancelotti met ‘four or five times’ according to Brazilian news site UOL, and talked regularly on the phone. There were claims from those close to Rodrigues that he had given his permission for Ancelotti to renew his deal at the Bernabeu.
It was an audacious move to target Ancelotti. It was a show of confidence and ambition by the CBF but ultimately, the long wait with no contracts signed and no alternative plan was not a strategy befitting of a nation of Brazil’s footballing status.
Back in power, Rodrigues dismissed Diniz, who returned to focus once more on Fluminense, hired Sao Paulo boss Dorival as head coach and tried to bring in Filipe Luis as team manager, a role vacated by Juninho Paulista after the World Cup in Qatar.
Filipe, the former Chelsea and Atletico Madrid defender, now coaching the academy at Flamengo, declined.
Now, the future of the Brazil team rests with Dorival, a genial 61-year-old who made his name restoring pride at Vasco da Gama, leading the Rio giants out of Serie B and back to the top-flight in 2009, with a team built on young players, including Philippe Coutinho and Allan.
From there he went to Santos, where he coached a young Neymar and won Copa do Brasil.
Ancelotti instead decided to sign a new contract with Real Madrid despite Rodrigues’ promises
Dorival stepped away from coaching after a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2019, and his wife was also diagnosed with breast cancr
Dorival stepped away from coaching for two years after a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2019, soon after his wife Valeria had received a breast cancer diagnosis.
Since his return to work, he has won the Copa do Brasil and Copa Libertadores with Flamengo and last year led Sao Paulo to the illustrious Copa do Brasil, with a style based on relationships rather than tactical philosophies, although certainly more adventurous than Tite’s.
‘In these last six or seven years I have managed to overcome to very difficult moments in my home life,’ said Dorival at his unveiling as Brazil boss. ‘My wife with a very aggressive cancer and my diagnosis, shortly after, and this served to strengthen me even more and rethink aspects of my career.’
Now comes his biggest footballing challenge. With an expanded World Cup next time, there is little any chance Brazil will fail to qualify. More important, after their 15 months adrift, can he build a team to win the trophy in 2026? That is the measure of success in Brazil.
