The crabs come out for Dunga. Ah, what do they know.

It goes hand-in-hand that when you’re an acknowledged superpower and you fail in your undertaking -- the coach is a bust.

Case in point: Brazil’s ouster from the Round of Eight in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Now you have writers and analysts saying that Dunga’s model was flawed and it was like this and it was like that. Yadda. Yadda. Yadda.

It’s the same song and dance number in every World Cup. I heard that in 2006 with Jurgen Klinsmann who was pilloried left and right as Die Manschaftt headed to the World Cup. But after they were turning heads with their play, even after their late game ouster by Italy, people pleaded for him to stay. Don't you see the same pattern with Jogi Low?

Let me see, who has been vilified this year – there’s Raymond Domenech which is a given. There’s Fabio Capello, Bob Bradley, Carlos Queiroz, and now Dunga.

Let’s tackle Queiroz. When his Portuguese side was eliminated by Spain that was coached by Vicente del Bosque (the common denominator between the two coaches is they both managed Real Madrid FC one after the other), the flaws of the team were obvious – one, Cristiano Ronaldo was hardly a factor and two, the replacements for Luis Figo, Rui Costa and company did not pan out. Let me say that I am a fan of Portugal and Zenit St. Petersburg forward Danny but this was a different pressure cooker situation for him. He's been unable to finish runs and it was glaring versus Brazil and Spain. Will he get better at it? Of course. 

I thought that the team was humming heading into Euro 2008 but that 0-2 loss to Switzerland took the edge out of Portugal (right before Big Phil left). They crashed out of Euro 2008 courtesy of Germany and most recently, flirted with disaster heading to South Africa during the qualifying stages. Then in World Cup play they drew 0-0 with Ivory Coast, pasted North Korea, and drew Brazil 0-0 before getting eliminated by their Iberian Peninsula neighbors 1-nil.

This team was really headed nowhere. I guess we saw that Ronaldo couldn’t give Real Madrid a lift let alone his national side. So I guess his success at Old Trafford was also because of the presence of Carlos Tevez, Rooney, Rio Ferdinand et al.

Bob Bradley, it’s not his fault that USA got beaten by Ghana. If anything, the Americans came away with a healthy respect from everyone. They played so much better than even England. They should have gotten 3 points clear from Slovenia. At the end of the day, it’s the players who are responsible for executing the gameplan.

Starting out slow has nothing to do with the coach. He isn't on that pitch. 

Prior to the World Cup, it was said that the weakest position on the field was the left back. Carlos Bocanegra held but it was the central defense of Jay Demerit and Oguchi Onyewu that failed them too. Post-Ghana it was said the US lacks a quality top striker. Maybe. Robbie Findley and Jozy Altidore didn’t score. But so did Wayne Rooney. Ronaldo only had one goal. The two just didn’t score because they missed their chances and were marked well. Frank Lampard has had two successive lousy World Cups. Does Chelsea need a better attacking midfielder?

Fabio Capello. Funny how Alan Shearer says that their mastering the qualifying stages only meant they beat lousy teams when his own England side beat – Moldova, Georgia, and Poland on their way to the 1998 World Cup. And in the knockout stage, he elbowed Argentinean goal keeper Carlos Roa just as Sol Campbell headed in what should have been the winning goal for England. Instead minutes after, David Beckham was sent off with a red card and the Three Lions lost when the game went into penalties.

Maybe Fabio Capello isn’t a media savvy guy but post-South Africa people are taking shots at his disciplinarian methods? Hmm. Not too long ago, many said that English players were spoiled and lacking in discipline.

And where does coup d’état plotter John Terry fit into all of this?

As for Raymond Domenech… ah serves him right.

The Brazil-Netherlands match. The Selecao looked ready to blitz the Dutch as they were clearly the superior side in the first half. Should they have scored more? Maybe but Dutch defense held.

I agree that Felipe Melo’s own goal changed turned the tide (as was his stomping on Robben) and more than that, it was the emotional immaturity of some of the players. Luis Fabiano thought they dispatch the Dutch easily. And I used to like Robinho but seeing as to how petulant he was with Real Madrid and with Manchester City, I wondered if it was right to bring him in to lead the Selecao. He began to act like the Argentineans or Italians by berating Arjen Robben (Robinho must have thought that he dived but what he didn’t see was Lucio tripping him with his boot).


The team lacking a game changer? Hello. Ever heard of Luis Fabiano? Kaka? Dani Alves? Maicon? On the bench they had the wonderful Grafite who Dunga mysteriously did not play. And what's wrong with Nilmar? Tell me. When Brazil first won the World Cup in 1958 no one -- again, no one -- knew who Pele was. Please, he was 17 years old. And in 1954, who knew Friaca of the Selecao? 


Previously, it was asked why Ronaldinho wasn't included and team officials said he didn't have a great season with AC Milan (I disagree). But so did Robinho. However, a lousy season of club football doesn't mean that they won't perform. Witness Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski for Germany. And there's Steven Gerrard of England. Liverpool was lousy this past year but he scored for the Three Lions this year and set up another in addition to having numerous chances.

The Brazilians unraveled when they let their emotions get the better of them. Would the inclusion of Ronaldinho helped? Maybe. Maybe not.

The Dutch scored from set pieces much like England did against Germany. The difference here is the Germans got their heads straight and went back on the counter-attack which is something Brazil should have done. Instead they kept complaining and lost their nerve. Did they sit back and relax? Not at all. That’s like disrespecting the Dutch. The Netherlands has been playing well. They are like Spain – always producing top quality players but never winning the World Cup. In Euro 2008 they could have made it all the way except they faltered at a late stage. People don’t really talk about them much because Ruud van Nistelrooy and Edwin Van der Sar are gone. They don’t have the Patrick Kluivert types anymore. Ah, Kluivert! He’s the reason why I bought my Ajax Amsterdam kit ages ago (and I still have it to this day). Rob Van Persie isn’t that bad as is Klaas Jan Huntelaar. And me? I have always been a fan of Arjen Robben.

The simple answer is, Brazil unraveled and the Dutch played well. Much like the Americans had a better team than Ghana but the Black Stars played better on that day.

As for Brazil. Dunga won the Copa America and the Confederations Cup. But Brazil only wears stars on its fabled lemon yellow jersey for World Cup victories and because of such, the squad and Dunga is unjustly labeled as a failure.