As Tite explained in an interview with SporTV, his era as coach of the Brazilian national team nears its end. Regardless of his performance at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the 60-year-old will leave the sideline. He knew from the beginning that this phase would last until the end of the next World Cup.
Tite, who was signed by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) in June 2016, replaced the sacked Carlos Dunga. The former winning coach of Corinthians led the Canarinhos to first place in the South American qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. There, Brazil suffered a 1-2 to Belgium in the quarter-finals.
A partial fresh start followed, but Tite continued to be trusted. And this decision was the correct one, as Brazil prevailed at the Copa América 2019 at home. With this, the Seleção won the South American championship for the first time since the 2007 edition in Venezuela.
Two years later, the Brazilian national team again competed in front of their own crowd, but the final against arch-rivals Argentina ended 0-1. This represented one of Brazil’s five defeats with Tite on the sidelines. Besides, the five-time world champions experienced 51 victories and 14 draws.
About two years before the beginning of his era, the Brazilian national team experienced another historic defeat. Because: on 8 July 2014, the German national team beat the hosts 7-1 in the semi-finals at the World Cup in Brazil. Germany then crowned themselves world champions, and the home side lost 0-3 to the Netherlands in the third-place match. This forced Dunga’s predecessor Luiz Felipe Scolari to take his hat off.
Now it could come to a revenge at the 2022 World Cup. Brazil, who like Germany are already qualified for the tournament in Qatar, will be in the first pot in the draw. In contrast, Germany will most probably be in the second pot. Tite explained that triumphing at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar represents his greatest dream. Because: “I have won everything in my career. The only trophy I am missing is that of the World Cup.”
