Las Vegas.- The Brazilian coach, Dorival Júnior, showed his most human side, this Friday the 28th, breaking down in tears at the press conference after the duel between Brazil and Paraguay, in the second match of the group stage of the 2024 Copa América.
Dorival’s tears of emotion were not for his team’s first victory (1-4) in the tournament, but for the death of Dudu, uncle, professional and life reference of the Brazilian coach.
“Dudu was a reference for me as a footballer, as a coach and as a human being, He always cared about everyone except him. He was an example for me and I always tried to follow in his footsteps,” said the Brazilian coach, when asked about the death, at 84, of one of the great idols of Palmeiras.
“He only wore three shirts: Ferroviária, Palmeiras and the Brazilian national team. For me, he represents much more than a beautiful story,” he continued, praising his uncle, now in tears.
According to Palmeiras, Dudu is fourth on the list of the Brazilian club’s players who have most times worn the Verdao shirt, with 615 games in 13 seasons.
“For me, He was my second father. He guided me in every aspect of my life and, in the end, I decided to follow the same profession as him. He will now make a calm transition to another plane,” he concluded, before confessing that the last time he was with him, a month ago, he already feared that he would never see him alive again.
The Brazil coach He was able to release all the pent-up emotion since she learned the news of the death of the man who guided her steps, just the day that the Canarinha achieved its best result in this Cup and cleared its path towards the quarter-finals of the continental tournament.
Praise for Vinicius
In addition, he also took advantage of the press conference to praise Vinicius’ performance, who scored two goals and recovered sensations after a gray debut: “Vini played a practically perfect match, with the creation of great sets, great plays; always very dynamic, very effective, direct and participatory”.
“That’s all we want to see from these types of players, who individually have a unique ability”added the Brazilian coach about the Real Madrid winger, one of the great leaders of his team in the absence of Neymar.
