Football
ESPN staff 8y

Dunga needs more time with Brazil, says Corinthians coach Tite

Corinthians manager Tite says Brazilian national team boss Dunga needs more time on the job to succeed, and indicated he'd only be interested in managing the Selecao after the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Tite, who is widely considered Brazil's top coach, has won a Club World Cup, Copa Libertadores and a league title in his five years with the club, and currently has the Sao Paulo giants five points clear atop the Brazilian Serie A table with nine rounds to play.

When Brazil sacked manager Luis Felipe Scolari following a disastrous home World Cup campaign in 2014, Tite was seen by many as the ideal choice to take over the national team. Instead, Dunga assumed a second stint in charge of the national team, and Tite then returned to Corinthians after a year away.

Dunga's side began their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-0 loss at Chile on Thursday, putting him under intense scrutiny from local media for the team's poor performance, with some calling for Tite to take over the squad. Despite the clamour, Tite says now is not the time for a change.

"The moment has passed. The right moment [to take over as coach] was after the World Cup. Now it's time to support Dunga," Tite told ESPN Brasil.

"After the next World Cup, then Tite will be a candidate again, as will Oswaldo [de Oliveira, Flamengo's coach], Marcelo [Oliveira, Palmeira's coach] and others. For a good job, you got to have time, otherwise it's just an illusion."

Brazil bowed out to Paraguay at this summer's Copa America tournament after star and captain Neymar was suspended by CONMEBOL for his postgame actions in a group stage game against Colombia.

Still serving his punishment, Neymar was unavailable for Brazil's qualifiers loss to Chile on Thursday, and will serve the final game of his ban in Tuesday's second qualifier against Venezuela at home.

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