Dorival Júnior Takes Responsibility for Brazil's Defeat
Brazil's national team and their coach, Dorival Júnior, took responsibility for their 1-0 defeat against Paraguay and admitted that the players lacked "many things" to perform well in the match of the eighth round of the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
"We lacked many things today. I am responsible for that and I don't want to point fingers at any player," said the 62-year-old coach at the post-match press conference, which took place at the Defensores del Chaco Stadium in Asunción.
He stated that with the team currently in fifth place and having only 10 points from 24 possible, they need to work harder and require "much more to reach the high level" expected of the Canarinha.
"It's not simple, it's not easy, but we need to intensify our efforts to quickly find that path," he pointed out.
Regarding the match, he noted that they started well and had control until Diego Gómez scored a stunning long-range goal, securing the three points for Paraguay at home.
"We lost our way at that moment and we lost the first half without approaching the opponent's goal," he explained.
"In 30 or 35 minutes, we did very little. We attacked little and had few chances at Paraguay's goal. We paid a very high price for that," he admitted.
La Albirroja, under the command of Argentine Gustavo Alfaro for the second match, won at home for the first time in this qualifying campaign after securing a 0-0 draw in Montevideo on Friday. Now, with 9 points, they occupy the seventh position, which grants them a chance to play in the playoffs.