Thinner, more relaxed and master of the national team, Tite approaches his second World Cup

Relaxed, thinner (according to himself), at his mental peak and prepared for demands, Tite is approaching his second World Cup as the master of the Brazilian team.

CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) employees avoid going to the space reserved for the technical committee at the entity’s headquarters in Barra da Tijuca, west of Rio. The order is not to disturb.

The consensus in the board is that the coach should have the freedom to do and ask for what he wants.

There is a dose of confidence in the work carried out, but also concern about a possible defeat in Qatar. Tite would be most responsible for the laurels of victory. And also for any charges for the return without the trophy.

This Friday (9), he made the last call-up of the Brazilian team before the first list for the World Cup in Qatar, which starts in November. On the 23rd, the team will play a friendly against Ghana. Four days later, he faces Tunisia.

The technical commission’s diagnosis is that it is necessary to face African rivals. Especially the Ghanaians, potential opponents in the knockout stage. In the first phase of the World Cup, the team faces Cameroon.

On October 21, the CBF sends FIFA a preliminary list with 55 names. It is not mandatory to disclose who was selected, but Tite has already made it clear that he has decided that the names will be passed on to the press, so there will be no leakage whatsoever.

“Being coach of the national team is extremely proud. It brings a history of weight and responsibility of extraordinary achievement. You have to balance things, otherwise we lose the joy and satisfaction of being an example for the younger ones. I will be sorry for the athletes I don’t call. “, said.

The call-up of players like Ibañez (Roma-ITA), Bremer (Juventus) and, above all, Pedro (Flamengo) monopolized so much attention that Tite found himself in the unprecedented situation of talking to journalists for almost an hour and not listening to any question about Neymar. .

Despite saying that the list is open and that there is still the possibility (albeit small) of new developments, the coach continues to have in mind the base of the last four years. A good part of it, remaining from the 2018 Worlds. It made it clear that Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal-ING) was not called up this time, but he is in the plans for Qatar.

“The greatest possibility of success is respecting the processes”, he said, with his Tite way of explaining that he needs to maintain the coherence of the last four years.

He is just under three months away from being the third Brazilian coach to lead the team in two consecutive cups. Only Zagallo (1970 and 1974) and Telê Santana (1982 and 1986) achieved this. Telê was not continuously. He left after the 1982 tournament and returned at popular request in 1985.

Perhaps because he was at the end of an exhausting cycle in the most important position in national football, perhaps because of the expectation of traveling to the World Cup, perhaps because he was not bothered by any question, Tite was relaxed this Friday.

He joked with his assistant, Cleber Xavier, interpreted a dialogue with Geromel in which he changed his tone of voice according to the characters in the conversation and talked about his physical condition.

Tite’s preparation for the Worlds included weight loss. He didn’t say how much thinner he is, but said he did it to be at the highest possible mental level to do his job in Qatar.

The only sad moment was when talking about the knee injury of the side Guilherme Arana, who will not be able to participate in the World Cup.

“It was hard talking to Arana. It was touching”, he summed up.

After the announcement, most of the members of the technical committee went to lunch at the restaurant at the CBF headquarters. As usual, Tite didn’t want to go.