Dorival Junior to coach Brazil

AFP, Rio De Janeiro :
Sao Paulo FC boss Dorival Junior will be the new Coach of the Brazilian national team, the club said on Sunday, after Fernando Diniz was fired from the five-time world champions following a string of losses.

“It’s a personal dream come true,” the 2023 Copa do Brasil-winning coach said in a statement posted by Sao Paulo on X, formerly Twitter, after days of speculation he would be named to take over struggling Brazil.

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) did not immediately confirm the announcement.

Dorival, 61, coached Flamengo to two major titles in 2022 — the Copa do Brasil and Copa Libertadores, the South American equivalent of Europe’s Champions League — before joining Sao Paulo, where he continued to rack up trophies.

He takes over football powerhouse Brazil at a difficult moment.

Under Diniz, Brazil had racked up three straight losses in World Cup qualifiers, including a humiliating 1-0 loss at home to arch-rivals Argentina in November.

The “Selecao” have struggled with a series of injuries, notably to star Neymar, who went off with a torn knee ligament in a 2-0 loss to Uruguay in October and is expected to be sidelined for months.

Brazil are currently sixth in South America’s 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the last automatic qualifying spot from the continent.

The CBF has meanwhile been embroiled in a messy legal battle over its leadership that saw its president, Ednaldo Rodrigues, ousted from the job by a court ruling in December, only to be reinstated by a Supreme Court judge last week.