Tite, the head coach of Brazil’s national football team, has announced his retirement after the Selecao were knocked out of the FIFA World Cup 2022 by Croatia. Brazil fought with determination, and even had 11 shots on target in the match, but it was not enough to beat the 2018 finalists.
Tite has been a manager since 1990, and has served 16 sides in 19 different stints. He began his career as the Selecao’s head coach in 2016. With the national side, he won the Superclásico de las Américas and the Copa America in 2019.
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When it comes to continental club titles, he has won the Copa Libertadores de America once, with Corinthians in 2012.
He said after the match, “As I said, my cycle is over. I said it over a year and a half ago. I keep to my word. We shouldn’t make a drama out of it as I said this one and half years ago. There are other great professionals that can replace me. There could be elements to analyse but the cycle is over.”
After the defeat, Neymar said, “It feels like a nightmare. It’s hard to believe this is happening,” further adding, “It would be too hasty to come here and say that this is it, but I can’t guarantee anything. I have to take some time to think about it. I’m not closing any doors, but I’m also not saying 100 per cent that I want to be back.”
Although Brazil were defeated by Croatia, their neighbours and eternal rivals Argentina managed to defeat Netherlands on penalties. This was a deja vu of the 2014 World Cup semifinal, where the Dutch were shown the door by Argentina in a similar fashion.
