Author: Soorya G
Coach Fernando Diniz admitted that the Brazilian national team made many mistakes against Peru on Tuesday, but pointed out that two goals were disallowed for offside, stressing that the 1-0 away win was deserved. During the post-match press conference, Diniz mentioned that some of the Brazilian team’s difficulties were due to the condition of the pitch at Peru’s National Stadium.
“I’m satisfied with what we showed in the two games. In today’s game, the atmosphere was different from Belém, in Pará. The team had to score three goals to count as one. There was that minimum margin that took eight minutes to invalidate the goal. We didn’t have as much fluency, we had a bit of difficulty with the pitch. That made it easier for them to score and we had more technical errors than usual. Much of this was down to the pitch, with some attempts to play too fast. But I think the overall result was very positive” he said.
Brazil’s goal was scored by Marquinhos in the 44th minute. Richarlison also scored twice in the first half, but both goals were disallowed. According to the coach, time will allow his concepts to be better absorbed by the players. He wasn’t too worried and expressed his confidence that the players would adapt to his training philosophy sooner or later.
“It’s something we’ll perfect over time. The players will understand; you don’t need lots of players to achieve superiority; it’s a question of occupying spaces, circulating the ball well. In the second half, more than in the first, we tried to accelerate too much, we didn’t have the patience to break down their defense little by little. That also made it difficult for us to play. There were a lot of passing errors, certainly because of the pitch as well. The pitch is not what the players are used to. It was a different pitch to the one in Belém, which, although it was in good condition, was also different to the one in Europe. Then there was also the matter of the pitch” he said.
The Brazilian national team will return to action on October 12, when they face Venezuela in Cuiabá. The team will then travel to Montevideo to face Uruguay.
Regarding his dual role as coach of the national team and his duties at Fluminense, Diniz said: “I’ve talked about it and I’m very relaxed. When I’m in the national team, I don’t deal with Fluminense, and when I’m in Fluminense, I don’t deal with the national team. Sometimes, at Fluminense, there are a few days away from the matches when we go to the CBF, talk to the national team people… for me, there won’t be any problem. It will be hard work, but it’s work that I love doing.“
There are currently many rumors about a pre-agreement between the Brazilian national team and the current coach of Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti. Ancelotti is expected to take charge of the Brazilian team after his current contract at the Santiago Bernabéu expires. Although Ancelotti refused to talk about his negotiations with the CBF or his plans for the future, several Brazilian stars, including Neymar, Danilo and Marquinhos, expressed their admiration for Ancelotti. The record UEFA Champions League winner as coach is expected to take over the Brazilian team in time for the 2024 Copa America.