Zimpapers Logo

RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazil named Dunga as their manager for the second time yesterday, two weeks after they were hammered 7-1 by Germany in the World Cup soccer semi-finals which led to the resignation of former coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.The 50-year-old Dunga, who captained Brazil to their fourth world title in 1994, was last in charge of the national team in 2010 when he was sacked for failing to take them further than the World Cup quarter-finals in South Africa.

“I am immensely happy to be back,” he told reporters.

Dunga, who played for a host of clubs in Brazil, Japan, Germany and Italy, was known for his combative midfield style as a player and led Brazil to their fourth World Cup in the United States in 1994. He was appointed Brazil manager for the first time in 2006 but although he won both the 2007 Copa America and the 2009 Confederations Cup, his team crumbled when they went behind to the Netherlands in the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals and lost 2-1.

Meanwhile, Fifa should review the decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar if an investigation shows that corruption played a part in the winning bid, English Football Association Chairman Greg Dyke said yesterday from London.

Appearing before a parliamentary committee, Dyke said Fifa should publish in full a report into the bidding process for 2018 and 2022 being compiled by American lawyer Michael Garcia. However, Dyke played down talking of stripping Russia of the 2018 tournament because of political tensions over Ukraine.

Garcia, who has been leading a Fifa ethics committee investigation into allegations of corruption surrounding the award of the 2022 World Cup to the Gulf state, will submit his report in September.

“If Garcia shows that there have been corrupt activities, the whole thing should be reconsidered,” Dyke said.

Dyke said he was convinced that the tournament would not be held in June or July if it was played in Qatar because of the intense heat, with a move to a cooler time of the year like November or December a certainty.

Dyke played down suggestions that Russia could be stripped of the World Cup as a punishment for the downing of a passenger plane over Ukraine last week which Western nations have blamed on separatists backed by Moscow.

“I think there will be a World Cup in Russia,” Dyke told reporters after the hearing. – AFP