ONE OF the planet’s most-famous footballing nations’ World Cup hopes now rest in the hands of a man dubbed “Brazilian Guardiola” – and he also has a day job to contend with.
Brazil were left humiliated after they were dumped out of Qatar 2022 in the quarter-final stage by Croatia.
AFPFernando Diniz is performing a unique job-share between Fluminense and Brazil[/caption]
Concerns then turned into national panic when the five-time world champions were beaten by both Morocco and Senegal earlier this year in friendlies.
Boss Tite had quit after the World Cup exit as the Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) began their pursuit of legendary Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti.
However, the Italian remains under contract at the Bernabeu until next summer and will at least see out that deal.
That left the CBF with a major dilemma ahead of their World Cup 2026 qualification campaign getting underway.
The Guardian states that they still want Ancelotti to take over next summer – so that ultimately led to Fernando Diniz being handed the reins in July in extraordinary circumstances.
The 49-year-old was appointed manager of Fluminense in 2022 and led them to Campeonato Carioca success in his first season.
However, having only been offered a one-year package by his country, he refused to step-down from his club role.
And that has resulted in him still performing his day job while being tasked with guiding the Samba Boys through their qualifiers until the CBF hope to finally land Ancelotti ahead of Copa America at the end of the campaign.
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Although the position is only temporary, Diniz was instantly under-pressure in his new role as looks to maintain Brazil’s unbeaten qualification that has stretched from 2015 while also hoping to avoid a first-ever home qualifier defeat.
And things appear to be going well so far in the unique job-share as the South American giants began their qualifying campaign with a 5-1 win over Bolivia and a 1-0 triumph over Peru to put them top of the group on goal difference.
But it is not just the results that matter – style counts for everything in Brazil.
And after years of adopting a more European tactical approach under Tite, Diniz wants to bring back the jogo bonito flair and attacking prowess that made the Brazilians almost everybody’s second favourite national team.
Fluminense fans soon fell in love with his style, which they dubbed “Dinizismo” at the Maracana.
And they certainly are unorthodox – as he displayed during his first game in charge against Bolivia.
Wingers Rodrygo and Raphinha, who scored and assisted in the victory, both moved closer to the action centrally rather than staying out wide near the touchline.
Diniz wants his men to play close to each other and to push forward via quick one-twos and combinations.
He prefers his stars to react and play spontaneously in the moment – and his style and ball possession tactics have made his Tiki-taka style a huge hit.
And it has even led to comparisons with Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola – earning him the nickname of “Brazilian Guardiola”.
Whether or not the curious case of Diniz’s brief stint, which will include four more qualifiers and another friendly, pays off remains to be seen.
But it will certainly make for a fascinating watch.