President of Brazilian Football Confederation supports Dunga and blames Thiago Silva

The president of the Brazilian Football Confederation, Marco Polo Del Nero, has backed the work of Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri 'Dunga' as the national team coach and blamed defender Thiago Silva as the main culprit for the elimination of the Canarinha in the Copa America, according to the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo.

"We have to accept that Dunga won eleven matches with a team and that when he arrived at the Copa America, he lost five of his starters, including Neymar," said Del Nero in an interview with the newspaper.

According to the president of Brazilian football, the intention of the CBF is for both the coach and the coordinator of the national team, Gilmar Rinaldi, to continue leading the team until the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Brazil, which had not known defeat since Dunga took charge of the team last July after their disappointing performance in the 2014 World Cup, was eliminated from the Copa America in Chile on Saturday in a penalty shootout against Paraguay.

This premature exit from the tournament has resulted in the coach receiving numerous criticisms in recent days, both from the media and some players, as well as enduring numerous boos from fans upon his arrival in Brazil yesterday.

In addition to confirming Dunga in his position, Del Nero wanted to exonerate the coach from responsibility for the team's elimination by stating that it was due to Thiago Silva's handball. "Our elimination is due to the mistake of one of our players." Regarding the missed penalties, he added: "We have seen great stars miss penalties even in World Cups."

Thus, Del Nero questioned the performance of one of the team's pillars, Thiago Silva, who committed a clear penalty by clearing the ball with his hand, which Paraguayan Derlis González converted, ultimately resulting in a draw in a match that had to be decided in a penalty shootout.

At this point, the Brazilians Everton Ribeiro and Douglas Costa missed their respective penalties, which, according to Del Nero, was also decisive in the Canarinha's elimination.