Football and World Cup will not be solutions for a divided country, says Tite

The Brazilian team debuts in the World Cup on November 24, 25 days after the second round of the general elections in Brazil. Coach Tite, 61, however, is concerned with separating football from politics. For him, sport is an educational agent, as well as cultural heritage, not the solution to the country’s problems.

“Football cannot carry the solution of pleasure, of satisfaction. It doesn’t put food in anyone’s mouth, nor a job in anyone’s mouth, nor education in anyone’s mouth”, says the coach to Sheet.

In an interview at the headquarters of the CBF (Confederação Brasileira de Futebol), in Rio, the commander who dreams of giving Brazil its sixth world title says he “can’t help but stay tuned” in Brazil’s main social issues, but prioritizes his work . “Our priority is selection.”

In Qatar, Tite will also find a scenario that he doesn’t like. As he is playing the tournament in a country with a history of human rights violations, including during the construction of the World Cup stadiums, he says he will not be “full of his satisfaction”.

Regarding the Brazilian team, he believes that the team will arrive at the tournament better prepared than at the last World Cup, in Russia, in 2018, when the team was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Belgium. “We have more options.”

How long have you had the list of players you will take to Qatar? Is it over there [a lista] it’s recent because it’s built with each game, with each training session. It is built on each athlete’s performance in your club, on each athlete’s full-time follow-up in the game, and not watching the best moments.

But when did you get to the closest to that final list? When those two games ended. Now, she is at the mercy of that final product.

How many doubts still remain to close the cast? Six, seven disputes [estão abertas].

How do you deal with pressure from certain summons? First, with respect, as long as it’s respectful. Second, look and make our judgment. Otherwise, I won’t be able to.

Can you stay oblivious to the strongest charges? No, but you can filter. Leaving the noises outside is normal. It’s your job [da imprensa] praise or criticize. It is the role of the chronicler, the commentator and the journalist. I have to understand this. If I talk about the technician’s processes, the technician has to understand the journalist’s processes. So, you’re not going to give an opinion? What kind of journalism is this? Now, there are basic differences: the opinion, and then it is a qualification, based on true information, this is an opinion. And he has a shallow opinion. What makes me very upset is when she is misinformed.

What is the practical difference in the work of a coach who manages to stay in the national team for so long, as is your case? Trusted personal relationships with the whole group. They already know how the coach reacts to good or bad, medium and exposure. What kind of leadership, what is the professional qualification of the commission, what level of knowledge. They [atletas] compare to the high-level technicians they have. It’s inevitable, it’s human.

What was decisive for you to get that time in the selection? First, my whole background, my past background as a team builder. Second, the results within the selection, which beat all the records of any coach along their paths. In the Qualifiers, we beat all records for goals scored, goals conceded, goal difference, number of wins, home wins. We have 13 more goals than Argentina in terms of goals scored.

How many matches of Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon, Brazil’s rivals in Qatar, have you watched? Not entirely. Best moments, yes, and their account [dos membros da comissão]. I continue to deepen our model and the athletes. A game I’ve seen separately, but not in the depth I’ll give from now on.

How many times have you reviewed the game with Belgium? After the Cup, I must have reviewed it five times. Then I take it, get up and say: enough.

In his analyses, he identified the moment or the factor that he considers decisive for that defeat? Not.

And in the game as a whole, what factors would you do different today? No [faria diferente] because I didn’t know it and, for me, Belgium won, because of the great quality it has. I didn’t do it differently because I didn’t have the knowledge or maturity to do it differently. It was our best game in the Cup in terms of performance for me. We played against the best team in the Cup and finished 20 times, 11 of which were on goal. De Bruyne said: Brazil played better, but we were effective.

Will Brazil arrive in Qatar more favorite than it arrived in Russia? Good question. [Temos mais opções de] names and game. What happened, hurting Dani [Alves]hurting, mainly, Renato [Augusto] in 2018, today we have different models, different adjustments, preparation of different athletes. This is a significant difference.

Do you believe that this will be Neymar’s last Cup, as he himself said? I respect Neymar’s opinion and I strongly disagree. He’s going to play another Cup, I say he’s going to play. I doubt if he plays a second one, but I claim he will play [outra depois do Qatar].

Is the mental health of athletes a concern of the national team’s coaching staff? Not directly with the CBF, but it does. Just for our sake, intimate, she’s personal with me, she’s on the coaching staff. Even the athletes themselves know, because I said in a lecture on behavioral topics that I have a professional who guides us so that we can guide us, but that you have this ability to know that it is important.

When did you make the decision that you will not continue in the national team after the World Cup? A year and a half, two years ago. I called the entire technical committee and put it to them. After closing the cycle, new leaderships have to emerge and a new process has to take place. This is how it oxygenates, invigorates and evolves. I, in terms of maturity, will have the great opportunity to complete a full cycle in the Brazilian team, which is extraordinary.

Does the search for these new goals also have to do with your tiredness in relation to the routine at CBF? Are you tired of working at CBF? Not. If it was just of my own free will I would have continued. But it’s the whole context. There are stages and maturity.

When there was the scandal involving the former president of the CBF, Rogério Caboclo, accused of sexual and moral harassment, some vehicles reported that you considered leaving the Brazilian team and moving away from what you were happening. Did it happen? Lying thought.

It never crossed your mind to leave the selection? False cogitation, with an exclamation point. There was no side conversation. Had [conversa] right after Belgium and thus I thought 950 thousand times.

After the selection, is the objective to work in Europe? Of course I think “hey, what will my future be like?”. But if you want to know something, I don’t care what comes next. I want the selection. It fascinates me. It is the greatest pride a professional can have. Then there will be a route. What I’m not going to do is work in Brazil the year after the World Cup.

If you go back to work in Brazil right after the World Cup, do you think you could lose the momentum that the national team can give you? Did that influence your decision? [A decisão] it’s a word from my wife to say, look: what they do with Brazilian technicians doesn’t exist. I don’t want you to train in Brazil a year after you leave the Cup. This exposure, cutting meat all the time, is inhumane.

Are you studying languages? Do you have in mind working in a country where you are comfortable with the language? Do you know why I don’t study now and I would even want to? It’s just that this generates speculation for a country I can go to. If I’m going to study now, I’ll also be designing. As I don’t want to, I isolate the variables. Now, if you speak Italy, I know Italian, I will understand. I understand Spanish too.

So, missing the English? IT IS [risos]. Yup.

What is your opinion about foreign coaches in the selection? I prefer Brazilians and respect foreigners.

As it is a World Cup after an election that has divided the country, do you believe that the tournament can unite Brazilians? Football and sport unite by themselves. I don’t see these others… These parallel situations, important, but parallel, but each one carries its responsibilities. Social responsibilities are yours and football cannot carry the solution of pleasure, of satisfaction. He doesn’t put food in anyone’s mouth, nor a job in anyone’s mouth, nor education in anyone’s mouth. He is a sports educational agent, cultural heritage and he must remain that way.

What is your opinion on hosting the World Cup in Qatar, a country with a long history of human rights violations? humans? I seek social equality and justice in any country. In legal terms, I would like it to have more and more two aspects: education and punishment. Whatever the biased factors or, in this case, exploitative labor. Justice.

Does it bother you to play a World Cup in a country with this historic? Is it over there [Copa no Qatar] does not leave me in the fullness of my satisfaction. Would you like it to be in a country that doesn’t have these problems? Yes, I wish it were without these problems.

Can you separate the moment of preparation for a World Cup with the fact that every day you open the newspapers and become aware of the country’s problems? of what how does it affect you? There is no way not to be connected, because we are human beings, but there is the possibility of prioritizing. That’s a choice. Our priority is the Brazilian team, but that is associated with these factors, inevitably, yes, as a human being.

There is an agreement between the players of the Brazilian team not to speak about politics while they are in the service of the selection? He never had determination, neither on the part of the direction for the technical commission, nor on the part of the technical commission with the athletes. Absolutely not.

Some outlets reported that Neymar would have broken this alleged agreement by expressing support for the reelection candidate, Jair Bolsonaro. The agreement, then, does not exists? Does not exist. We live in the democratic country. Or else we are left without democracy, only when you agree with me.

Are you bothered by the image of an antibolsonarista that has been disseminated about you? People who think that, let them carry it with them, because I won’t carry this battle, that’s their problem. Mine is my peace of mind.

In the second round of the presidential elections, who will vote? I will vote secretly and I have my ideas very clear. I will do it personally and privately.

X-RAY

Titus, 61
A football coach, he has been in charge of the Brazilian national team since 2016. Ahead of the Canarinho team, he was champion of the Copa América in 2019.