<
>

Bayern Munich's Dante: Pep Guardiola helped me forget mistakes

Bayern Munich defender Dante has told Sport1 he lost confidence after his most recent high-profile mistake this season but said Pep Guardiola had helped him to move on.

The Brazilian, who made his only World Cup appearance in the historic 7-1 semifinal defeat against Germany, said earlier this year that he had been treated with "less respect" since that match but he has continued to make notable errors for the German champions in recent months.

Dante has featured in 35 competitive matches this season, and started 25 of them, but his concentration has been questioned, and his poor performance in the 3-1 defeat at Porto earlier this month attracted widespread criticism.

"It wasn't easy after my mistake in Porto," Dante said. "It was my responsibility, and it was difficult for me mentally. I should not think about it too much. I need to work hard to regain all my confidence."

Despite his struggles, the 31-year-old has retained the support of Bayern coach Guardiola, who had said before the Porto trip that he would like to have "1,000 Dantes" in his team.

"He gave me strength," he said. "He saw that it's not easy for me. I was coming off the back of three good games, and then Porto happened. I was just very, very disappointed as it was a very important match.

"The coach helped me a lot. We talked about it. He knows that he can count on me. It's just football -- sometimes mistakes happen. But you always need to fight for the collective, and stay positive. That's the only way to help the team."

The centre-back was only on the bench for the 6-1 win over Porto in the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinal tie at the Allianz Arena, and it had appeared that he may have moved behind Holger Badstuber in the pecking order for key clashes.

However, with Badstuber suffering yet another injury setback and Medhi Benatia still yet to recover full match fitness, Dante is set to start Tuesday's DFB Pokal semifinal at Borussia Dortmund.

Dante, who is under contract at the Allianz Arena until 2017, last week dismissed speculation he could be sold this summer, calling an exit "inconceivable."