Tite magic takes Brazil to Russia

Brazil are where they belong. The five-time world champions jetted their way to next year's World Cup in Russia with a clinical 3-0 win against Paraguay at Sao Paulo's Corinthians Arena on Wednesday.

Neymar, Philippe Coutinho and Marcelo struck in a match that capped off a magnificent turnaround of a team that was in a shambles with only nine points in six games less than a year ago. The victory, followed by Uruguay's shock 1-2 defeat against Peru on the same day, not only confirmed Brazil's ticket to Russia as the first team with four games in hand but also fulfilled the steely resolve of no-nonsense coach Adenor Leonardo Bacchi.

Popularly known as Tite, the 55-year-old former Corinthians coach took over the team when it was in all sorts of trouble after that 7-1 annihilation by Germany in the 2014 World Cup on their home turf. Brazil turned to Dunga after their humiliation but he failed miserably in Copa America, from where Brazil made a first-round exit. They were languishing at sixth position after six World Cup qualifying games when the federation appointed Tite in June last year.

On his first day in the job, Tite said he still had “trembling knees” or nerves about taking the job after a succession of humiliations for Brazilian football in recent years.

“The focus is the qualification for the World Cup and we are not in the qualification zone,” he said in his first press briefing. “There is the risk [of being out]. If you don't accept that, you will be fighting against reality. I am here because unfortunately the results did not come. But there is a potential for us to grow and aim for a spot.”

And Wednesday after nearly a year, the task-master completed the job in style -- winning eight games on the trot. Not only that, he transformed the team into a cohesive unit and more importantly the flair that the men in yellow are revered for all over the world has returned. He did a few things that worked well for Brazil. He was very assertive when he took over, pronouncing that he had no intention of overseeing the Brazilian Olympic team. His sole focus was to see Brazil through to the qualifying phase. He has also rotated the captaincy, primarily to shed the burden on Neymar. Brazil had never been a one-man team and his effort was to make sure that his side does not become over-reliant on Neymar.

A shrewd Tite however utilised the star value of the Barcelona forward to create space for his other attackers. “The collective empowers the individual. If the ball arrives to Neymar, they mark [him], but the other side is more exposed. Coutinho creates chances. Enter Fagner, enter Paulinho. We take Neymar to one side, let him be isolated and make room for another. If they mark two, somewhere there are going to be people free. [We have to] find these alternative areas,” Tite revealed.

He has also changed Neymar from a temperamental one to a more disciplined person on the field.

“We only learn when we get hurt or do something wrong. I already argued unnecessarily. I got yellow and red cards, harmed myself, harmed my teammates. But time makes us more mature. Nowadays I only think about playing football, I am better in every aspect,” Neymar said at a press conference recently.

Interestingly, Neymar donned the captain's arm-band after a long time against Paraguay. Perhaps Tite feels the striker has matured to lead Brazil to glory in Russia.