SAMARA : If someone had to pick out the two most common themes of Brazil coach Tite’s post-match press conference, he or she would probably go for ‘hurt’ and ‘effectiveness’. The latter was his explanation why Brazil lost and Belgium won. The former was writ large on his face. Of course, any coach would appear hurt if his team had just exited a tournament it was heavily touted to win. But with Tite on Friday night, it was something else.
There were moments you suspected that this is when he would lose control and break down in tears. But it never came, much like the Brazil equaliser against Belgium. Maybe it was the emotional toll of the assignment that he was handed. When Tite was handed the reigns of the team, he wasn’t just tasked with preparing them for a World Cup just over two years away. His job was to infuse new life into a team that was at one of its lowest ebbs. Dunga’s men had been disastrous in the Copa America Centenario and the 7-1 humbling at the hands of Germany in 2014 was fresh in everyone’s minds.
Few can dispute that he has done exactly that. Friday was the first time he had lost a competitive game as Brazil manager. There was a reason that his team was one of the favourites — apart from the fact that they were Brazil. They breezed through South American qualification, with all its pitfalls and landmines, conceding as little as three goals. Maybe that is why everyone seems to be reacting so unusually to this Brazil exit. As the men in yellow left the field, none of the fans were booing for they were aware this was just one of those nights. Tite would later pay tribute to them for understanding. “The fans know what happened. They can see.
They recognise.” After the game, he encountered no journalists baying for his blood, as Jorge Sampaoli had done after every one of Argentina’s underwhelming performances. It is not for nothing that they talk of him back in Brazil as a snake charmer. Their questions were respectful, consoling even. They repeatedly threw him the rope to climb out with his reputation untarnished but he rejected every one of those offers. Do you think things would have been better if you had got four years to prepare? “Two years was my reality.” Do you think you were unlucky tonight?
“Luck is an educated manner of putting down people’s skills.” What did you think of the referee tonight? “I am not going to talk about the referee.” Do you think you were unlucky with injuries? “No.” Nor did he pin the blame on his players like some managers are prone to doing. “We had twothirds of the game wrapped around our fingers. It was amazing the capacity the players had of absorbing two goals. To keep a cool head under those circumstances and to keep on creating, creating, creating...” He talked about how beautiful the game was, almost as if the thankfulness of being a part of it was more than his sorrow at having lost it. “If you like football, you have to watch this game,” he said.
“If you are not emotionally involved, you can sit back and say ‘what a match!’.” But the most important question was the very first one. Are you going to stay on? Tite took a deep breath, puffing up his already swollen face and delivered the least unexpected answer of the night. “Answering that is not appropriate at this moment.”