Sao Paulo, June 29 (IANS) Coach Dunga says Brazil’s elimination from the Copa America will serve as a learning curve ahead of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
The Selecao was knocked out of the tournament in Chile after losing a quarter-final penalty shootout to Paraguay on Saturday, reports Xinhua.
“We are all going to take a lot of lessons into the qualifiers,” Dunga said upon arriving with Brazil’s squad here on Sunday.
“Just like the Copa America, it’s going to be difficult but we can’t forget the Brazilian characteristics and we need to capitalise on our technical attributes,” Dunga, who captained Brazil to World Cup-winning campaign in 1994, added.
South America’s 25-month World Cup qualifying campaign will begin in October, with the draw to be announced on July 25.
Defender Miranda lamented Brazil’s inability to heal the psychological wounds left by their cataclysmic 1-7 World Cup semi-final loss to Germany last year.
“Unfortunately we weren’t able to lift the morale of Brazilian fans,” the Atletico Madrid centre-back said.
“But life goes on. Now we are thinking about working as hard as we can to do well in the qualifiers.”