Brazil head coach Dorival Junior has called for patience following Sunday’s quarter-finals exit at the hands of Uruguay, insisting that the Selecao are still a work in progress with a lot of room to improve, Soccernet.football reports.
The 62-year-old stated that he takes “full responsibility” for his team’s disappointing Copa America campaign, following their 4-2 penalty shootout defeat to 10-man Uruguay at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
“This type of work requires a great amount of patience,” said Dorival, who has taken charge of only eight games as head coach of the Selecao.
“I do have to acknowledge that these weren’t the expected results, and I take full responsibility for them, but I do think as well that this team has great room to grow and evolve and improve.”
Brazil put up an unimpressive display at the tournament, drawing twice in the group stage and only managing one victory against Paraguay. This Copa exit is their second consecutive quarter-final elimination from a major tournament, following the 2022 World Cup.
Despite gaining a one-man advantage after Uruguay’s Nahitan Nández received a red card in the 74th minute, Brazil couldn’t capitalize as the hotly contested match, marked by a tournament-high 41 fouls, ended goalless after 90 minutes and went to penalties.
In the shootout, Éder Militão and Douglas Luiz missed their penalties for Brazil, while Alisson Becker saved a shot from Uruguay’s José María Giménez. However, Manuel Ugarte scored the decisive spot kick to Uruguay into the semifinals, resulting in Brazil’s early exit.
“This is a process; in general, you come across difficulties when you’re creating a team,” said Dorival, whose team was without the suspended Vinícius Júnior in the quarterfinal.
“This was our first official tournament, and the result was far from what was expected … our main objective now is to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Dorival, who only just took the national team job in January, also made a case for his players as the majority of them went into the tournament off the back of pretty long and demanding seasons with their respective clubs.
“Many of them joined us after long seasons,” he said.
“Considering what we saw at the training sessions and every day, I think we can still grow as a team … many people might not understand, things are like this when you’re creating a team from scratch. There are ups and downs in football.”