Ednaldo Rodrigues, president of the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation), has said that he is not in a hurry to define the new coach of the national team. He alone will decide the contract and has worked with time in his favor.
The leader’s reasoning exposed to interlocutors is that there is no reason to rush the choice.
The next FIFA date will be March 20. The main team will not have any relevant tournaments in the year if the qualifiers for the 2026 Worlds do not start soon. At first, the entity’s priority will be the Women’s World Cup, to be played in Australia and New Zealand.
The elimination against Croatia, in the Qatar World Cup, was Tite’s last game in charge. He had already decided that he would not continue and wants to fulfill an old dream of working in European football, as long as it is in a country whose language he dominates.
When he was in charge of Corinthians, the coach believed he was capable of going to Italy, because he speaks the language at an acceptable level. Since then, he has been studying English.
Since Tite announced that he would not continue, emissaries have called, on behalf of the CBF, to foreign technicians, based on the belief that the new chosen one would not be Brazilian. Representatives of Carlo Ancelotti, José Mourinho and Abel Ferreira received polls, but nothing advanced.
As UOL published, Ancelotti was willing to talk, but only from June 2023, after the European season. He has a contract with Real Madrid.
Contacts were not made by Ednaldo Rodrigues. He wants to define the subject only in January and should travel to Bahia in the next few days to spend the end of year holidays.
The main men’s national team will undergo reformulation that goes beyond the position of coach.
Another selections coordinator will be hired. Rodrigues was not a fan of Juninho Paulista, who played the role until the Qatar Cup, but avoided making changes so as not to rock the boat before the tournament.
To avoid being held responsible for eventual defeat, he instructed the directors to comply with all requests from the coaching staff.
The space where they worked, at the entity’s headquarters, in Rio de Janeiro, was even avoided by other employees.
The changes will go through the coordination of selections, technical commissions and advisors.
Hiring a foreign coach is not the CBF president’s dream solution. He would like a national name, but agrees that there is no one considered undisputed to replace Tite.
Historical players of the selection and former presidents made themselves available to give opinions and help in the process. The last to do so was Ronaldo, in an interview in Qatar.
The former striker said he would welcome the hiring of a foreigner, but he returned to praise Fernando Diniz’s work.
The fact is that any name chosen will be questioned, which is why Rodrigues doesn’t want to listen to anyone. He will make the decision of the new coach alone because he believes that this is the prerogative of his position. And that other past presidents have done the same.
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