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In the post-mortem of Brazil's historic destruction on home soil at the feet of Germany in the 2014 World Cup semifinals, many agreed that the national needed to modernize itself especially when it came to leadership style and tactics. Instead, the old men in charge of the country's football association decided to take a step backwards, recalling Dunga for a second stint in charge of the Seleção only four years after the chaotic 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Dunga lasted barely two years this time, his fame as a World Cup winner from 1994 not enough to help him survive the bad results in two consecutive Copa Américas — in the latter of which Brazil failed to get out of the groups for the first time in nearly 30 years — and the irregular results and performances in the South American qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup. Dunga’s replacement was former Corinthians manager and 2012 Club World Cup-winner (remember that?), Tite.
With Tite at the helm, the Brazilian national team has yet to fail to win, going for 6-for-6 in World Cup qualifying, including a dominant 3-0 victory over Argentina during the last international break. Everything seems to be falling in place for Brazil to become World Cup favourites once again, but Tite also wants to ensure that he has plenty of options for the remaining qualifiers, the tournament, and beyond.
According to UOL Esporte, one of these options might be Chelsea's David Luiz, who's been out of the Seleção since March 2016 following a poor performance in the 2-2 draw to Uruguay when Dunga was still manager. Tite will be flying over to Europe to follow some Brazilian players this week, and he wants to watch the Chelsea center back in loco during his tour around the continent.
The Brazil boss will start his tour at the Camp Nou next weekend to see the highly anticipated 'El Clasico' derby between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Afterwards, in addition to the England trip, Tite will visit France to see Paris Saint Germain's Lucas Moura in action, and he will also fly to Portugal to watch Benfica goalkeeper Ederson and one of his former Corinthians players, Elias who now plays for Sporting CP. The tour might also include trips to watch Valencia goalkeeper Diego Alves as well as Wolfsburg midfielder Luiz Gustavo.
Tite has been known to call-up more than the 23 players he’s able to name for each international break, as a way to motivate players who might be on the fringes of the team. His recent Chelsea call-ups include Willian and Oscar, though the latter did get dropped for the November break after getting a couple bench appearances in October.
The next international break comes in March next year, when Brazil face Uruguay away and Paraguay at home while looking to stay in first place in the qualifying group. While things are going well for Brazil, in his current form, David Luiz should be able to earn a well deserved call-up and a chance to put the Mineirazo past to rest once and for all in Russia 2018.