Brazil inquiry demanded
Sports minister wants to find out root causes of 7-1 disaster
Brazil's sports minister has called for an inquiry to find out the "root causes of the disaster", after the 7-1 World Cup semi-final defeat by Germany.
Aldo Rebelo's comments came as Neymar's agent Wagner Ribeiro launched an outburst at Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, calling him "an old jerk", "repulsive" and "conceited".
Scolari is expected to be replaced when Brazil's tournament comes to an end, after the third-place playoff with Holland on Sunday morning (Singapore time).
Former Corinthians coach Tite, who led the club to a Copa Libertadores and Fifa Club World Cup double, is the favourite to succeed him.
REPLACEMENT
Tite is viewed as Scolari's most likely replacement, with Sao Paulo coach Muricy Ramalho and former Brazil and Real Madrid manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo also in the running.
Rebelo, however, has called for an inquiry to what has gone wrong with Brazilian football.
The sports minister, who had previously referred to the 1950 final defeat by Uruguay as "national tragedy", told a news conference in Rio de Janeiro this morning: "It's a terrible blemish for Brazilian football because we have played against Germany 12 times and lost only four times.
"We must analyse the root causes of this disaster, learn the lessons and try to correct them so this doesn't happen again, so that Brazil can regain its status in world football."
Rebelo said the 1950 Brazil team were "a constellation of stars" and "much better than what we have today".
Scolari's time with the squad certainly seems to be coming to an abrupt end, and Neymar's agent Ribeiro produced a sarcastic list of "six requirements to be Brazilian coach" on his Twitter account.
These were:
"One - being Portugal coach and winning nothing.
"Two - going to Chelsea and being sacked the following day.
"Three - going to coach in Uzbekistan.
"Four - returning to Brazil, taking over a big team (Palmeiras) and getting them relegated to the second division."
"Five - leaving the club 56 days before the end of the Brasileirao (season) to 'escape' the relegation.
"Six - being an old jerk, arrogant, repulsive, conceited and ridiculous."
Scolari's insistence that his squad were "still developing" and that most would be in the 2018 World Cup is not borne out by the facts. - PA Sport.
Romario: prison time for Brazil’s football chiefs
Brazil football legend Romario, now a lawmaker, said on Wednesday that the sport’s chiefs should serve prison time for the national team’s humiliating 7-1 World Cup defeat by Germany.
One day after the semi-final thrashing, Romario said the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) was plagued by corruption because clubs have elected the same leaders for years.
“Our football has been deteriorating Romario: prison time for Brazil’s football chiefs for years. It is being dragged down by leaders who don’t even have the talent to juggle the ball,” Romario said in a letter posted on social media.
“They stay in their luxury box seats, enjoying the millions that go into their accounts,” he said.
The prolific striker said players and coaches were not to blame for the sport’s deterioration.
He said CBF president Jose Maria Marin and his deputy, Marco Polo del Nero, “should be in prison”.
Romario, a critic of the record US$11 billion ($13.7m) spent on the tournament, bemoaned the fact that President Dilma Rousseff will have to hand the World Cup trophy to a team other than Brazil in Monday’s Final.
“They will leave with the Cup and we will be left with our overbilled stadiums and no material legacy,” he said. “This will be the Cup of shame.”
— AFP.
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