Adenor Leonardo Bacchi, as Tite’s civil name sounds, was quite popular at one time and lasted over six years in the hot seat, which is an unprecedented amount of time by Brazilian standards. He coached 81 games, only three men managed more, led by the legendary Mário Zagall (126). Tite has lost only six times in all that time, but after the end of the mission in Qatar he has become a national enemy.
All of Brazil counts its sins - and they are not few. “He didn’t learn from his mistakes and again didn’t make the right decisions at key moments. That’s why, after several years of work, he again fell from the same height,” criticized the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper. And not just him.
Montage of the Croatia – Brazil World Cup quarterfinal matchvideo: Czech television
The grizzled coach is accused of allowing himself to go to the league without a single test match. That his team failed to maintain a narrow lead against Croatia and let their opponents, who had never scored a goal up to that point, equalize four minutes before the end of extra time. Or that he counted on his bigger star, Neymar, until the fifth penalty, which obviously didn’t happen.
“For the decisive penalty you need a mentally tough fighter who resists the pressure,” defended Tite, “For me Neymar would be the number one enforcer, he could set the tone for the whole shootout,” replied German manager Jürgen Klinsmann. at the BBC.
“The team worked hard, the players and the coach have my respect,” Brazil’s incoming president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wrote on Twitter, parting words for Tite: he had already announced a year and a half ago that he would retire after the World Cup Even at the previous championship The Brazilians had already been eliminated in the quarter-finals, the greatest success of Tite’s long era remained the gold of Copy América 2019. He is sixty-one years old and most likely one awaits him football pension.
“Only time will assess my legacy. This ending hurts, but I’m leaving in peace and there’s no need to make a drama out of it. There are other great professionals who can replace me,” said Tite.
For example, earlier there was talk of Abel Ferreira and this name should be relevant even now. The 43-year-old Portuguese has enjoyed success at Palmeiras, but it is said in Brazil that he doesn’t want much from the famous club. If it works out in the end, he will be only the fourth foreigner on the Brazilian national team bench. National names are also at stake: Dorival Júnior, Fernando Diniz, Renato Gaúcho…
The new coach will have a new team: for example, 38-year-old stopper Thiago Silva, who captained Brazil at the World Cup, will not go to the next World Cup, and the future of offensive leader Neymar is uncertain. After thirty, won’t he focus only on the club? “I’ll think about it – he said before leaving Qatar -. I won’t close the door behind me, but neither will I promise to continue playing for the national team”.
