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Dunga to retire after World Cup
Brazil's captain will no longer suit up for national team
Posted: Tuesday June 30, 1998 01:21 PM
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Dunga (left) has played in three World Cups for Brazil (AP) |
OZOIR LA FERRIERE, France (AP) --
If Brazilians
needed any extra motivation to win the World Cup, they'd do it for Dunga.
The 34-year-old captain quietly announced he would retire from the
national team after the Cup, although he will still play for his club,
Jubilo Iwata of Japan.
"These are my last three games for the 'selection'," Dunga said as the
team prepared to face Denmark in the
quarterfinals. His count is based on the assumption that Brazil will
get by Denmark. Once in the semifinals, the team at worst will play for
third place. But the worst isn't in his plans. "Our team is a
killer," he said. "But we must fight, take every opponent seriously, forget
the score." Dunga is the heart of the defending champions. His
bullying, badgering, on-field manner isn't always pleasant for his
teammates, but they know he gives his utmost for the team. In the
match against Chile, a vicious
tackle opened a gash on his leg that took six stitches to close, but Dunga
didn't even slow down until he was ordered off for treatment. "When
I'm wearing the jersey of the selection, I don't feel pain," he said. "You
can kick me, I feel nothing. My leg was full of blood, and I didn't even
notice. I only realized it when the referee stopped the game to send me
off." If his teammates questioned his drill-sergeant tactics, it took
just one game to realize how much they depend on him. Criticized
after a heated on-field argument with Bebeto, Dunga was subdued in the next
game against Norway. After
Brazil lost 2-1, the team as one came to ask for their old leader back.
"Dunga has something special, that natural dynamism that is super
important for us," said Leonardo. After the Bebeto incident, an
Internet survey asked whether Dunga should still be a starter on the
Brazilian team. Fully 95 percent of respondents said yes. "Dunga is very
important because of the vision he has of the game," said Rivaldo. "He
pushes us at the right moment." It all comes naturally to Dunga, the
descendant of German immigrants to the "gaucho" region of far southern
Brazil. It's been same wherever he played, in Brazil,
Germany, Italy and Japan.
On the national team, Dunga embodied the spirit Brazilians call the
"fatherland in cleats." In three World Cups, he became a symbol of
the best and the worst of the team. In 1990, his bulldog style was
ridiculed as artless and ugly. Four years later, when the team won a fourth
Cup title, Brazilians saluted his courage and leadership. Now, he
just wants one more chance. "In soccer, what remains is the last
moment," he said. "People generally forget what you did before."
What's difficult is imagining Brazilian sccer in the post-Dunga era. He has
left his imprint on the team, and an example to follow. "I always
gave the maximum of myself," Dunga said, running his hand over his buzz-cut
in a reflective moment. Then he paused. This was about more than soccer.
"I took the love of my country to the world," he said. "I tried to
show that Brazil is not just a Third World country. It has extraordinary
riches. I just hope I left something positive."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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