Hail Dunga

Let's go back three years. WC 2006 had just finished. The Brazil national team had set new standards for complacency at a world cup. The public was outraged. Carlos Alberto Pareira had to go and a lot else needed to change. The Brazilian football board did what it could to appease the fans. Their priority was to introduce discipline and professionalism instead of the ball that was currently happening. So they chose Carlos Dunga. The minute this appointment was made, I was sure that Brazil had made the right choice. Dunga had no experience as such. However given the type of player he had been, I expected him to do very well. Now he has surpassed all expectations.

It wouldn't be wrong to say that in recent memory you may not be able to find a manager who has done more for a national side in three years than Dunga. Here is a brief description of what he did although he did so much that I am sure I will miss out some of it.

First of all note that from the time Dunga took over, he made such a conscious effort of trying out players for different positions till he found the best for the job. The scouts must be congratulated for observing football in so many different places and picking out the right names to be given a chance. If you recall, some of Dunga's initial choices were laughable. Anyone would say no way is this player worth playing for Brazil. Yet he gave them their chances, got convinced that they would never make the cut and then moved on to others. Let's look at a few examples. For central striker Dunga started out with Vagner Love and then he also tried Afonso Alves. Just when we thought whether it was not possible to find anything better, he struck an ace with Luis Fabiano. Similarly look at the defensive midfielder position. Initially he tried Mineiro who many felt was just not good enough. And yet by Jove as the Confederations Cup came near, from somewhere he found Felipe Melo.

With this effort itself most coaches would justify that theirs was a team in transition and no one would object much if they failed to win anything. Dunga on the other hand has won both the major tournaments his side participated in. Recall the final of Copa America 2007. Brazil had some big names missing. Argentina had a full team which was playing awesome football. Some thought the final should be a cakewalk for them. Argentina even had an experienced tactician in Alfio Basile. And yet a rookie like Dunga showed the world what a great tactician he is. The plan was to shackle Riquelme using Brazil's physically strong defensive midfield and to kill Argentina with the pace of the full backs since Argentina lacked speed and Dunga took advantage of that resulting in a convincing victory for Brazil. Now look at last night. Brazil were 2-0 down at the break. Yet when they came out in the second half you could be sure they would win the match from the 46th minute itself. Brazil showed that the reason they are the most successful team in the world is not just due to their flair but due to their character as well. So is Dunga a great motivator as well. The only tournament where Dunga failed was the 2008 Olympics. However that was not the main team and A C Milan had not allowed Kaka to join. Yet even that caused people to ask for his head. The fans in Brazil can be very impulsive but thankfully the board is not that stupid.

If you look at Brazil's starting 11 in WC 2006 and their starting 11 now, only three players are common - Lucio, Juan and Kaka. Imagine how much effort Dunga and his team have put to create a completely different top class team in just three years.

To add to all this there were enough factors making Dunga's job very difficult. All the time he was accused of not playing beautiful football the way Brazil should play. The last man to face this accusation was one Luis Felipe Scolari who won the world cup with the team ultimately playing with a good amount of flair. So Dunga is in good company. He retorted to such detractors that if they keep asking for beautiful football, Brazil would not win another world cup for 24 years and the rest of the world would be very happy.

Is Dunga's current side the finished product? Almost but a few areas could improve. For the left back slot neither Andre Santos nor Kleber have proven to be world class. There is a possibility of trying out Dani Alves for that role. In defensive midfield Gilberto Silva is old and not doing anything great. Yet it's perhaps important to have an experienced hand there. Besides he's complemented by one of the discoveries of the season. In Felipe Melo, Brazil have a player who can do his defensive midfield duties properly and yet contribute well in attack. The third attacking midfielder slot is also open with neither Ramires nor Elano nailing it. However Luis Fabiano has now dismissed all doubts. He will never be a Ronaldo but he fits in this team very well and can make the most of the chances created. The bench strength could also improve somewhat. What Brazil do have this time and what they usually lack is a really good defense and a top class goalkeeper.

Yes Dunga is accused of ignoring some players. The most obvious name would be that of Diego who is so brilliant that Juventus are basing their entire next season on him and yet he does not find his way into the Brazil squad. In Dunga's defense Diego is a player who needs the team to be built around him. This cannot happen in Brazil as the team will be built around the one and only Kaka. So Diego would be best on the bench as Kaka's understudy. However being such a great player he may want to be in the starting 11 creating all kinds of problems. So Dunga has left him out and could, albeit cruelly, leave him out of WC 2010 as well. And what about Ronaldinho. Yes given his flair he could come back if his fitness and performance improves. However if he were to replace Elano/Ramires, it's not sure whether this would affect the team balance. Quite a few theories say that Kaka and Ronaldinho cannot play together. I for one believe that it wouldn't be so bad to drop him altogether since he was at the very centre of the extreme complacency displayed in WC 2006.

Brazil is still not an unbelievably good team. What they have in their favor is that most national teams are currently down and suffering from a lot of problems. So as of today Brazil are the top favorites for WC 2010. I am a supporter of Argentina, Spain and Italy. Other than that I would not want Brazil to win because I want to see champions from countries who have not won for long and I want to see Brazil suffer more for their unforgivable attitude in WC 2006. Yet if other teams are powerless to prevent it, I will take solace in the fact that an exemplary player like Kaka and an exemplary manager like Dunga won the world cup. This Brazil side does lack a little in flair compared to Brazilian teams of the past. However they do a lot of important things well - great formation, great tactics, great set piece ability, great speed, physically strong, good in the air and good defense as well.

In conclusion I will say this. Most of us would agree that the greatest rookie coach in the world today is Pep Guardiola. And let us add that Carlos Dunga is a very close second to him.