Brazil fired Mano Menezes on Friday, little more than 18 months before the country hosts the 2014 World Cup and just as the coach seemed close to finding his ideal team after two years of experimenting. The five-times world champions have won six of their last eight games, scoring 26 goals in the process, and the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said the surprise decision had little to do with results.
"I don't think it was for negative results, if that was the case he could have been fired last year," national teams director Andres Sanchez told a news conference in Sao Paulo. "It was that the president (Jose Maria Marin) wants to change the way things are done." Sanchez, who hired Menezes and is a close friend, himself disagreed with the decision.
"I don't think we should be changing tack at this time, but I was overruled," he said.
Menezes had been facing almost continual speculation about his future for the last year, but recent performances appeared to have lifted the pressure. His last match was a friendly away to Argentina on Wednesday when they lost 2-1 in a match featuring only home-based players. A new coach will be chosen in early January, Sanchez added, with Luiz Felipe Scolari, who led Brazil to their fifth world title in 2002, among the favourites to take over. Menezes replaced Dunga shortly after Brazil's quarter-final exit at the 2010 World Cup and immediately began a complete overhaul of the team, which included moving them away from their physical and counter-attacking style. In 40 games, Menezes's side won 27, lost seven and drew six.
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