Rio de Janeiro: Brazil’s 2002 World Cup-winning captain Cafu has offered to fill a coaching role under new Selecao boss Dunga.
Cafu was an outspoken critic of the team during the World Cup and was barred from entering the dressing rooms after the hosts’ 1-7 semi-final defeat to Germany in Belo Horizonte.
“I am always willing to help the national team,” Cafu told Radio Brasil Thursday.
“If the opportunity comes, great. I will look at it. If it doesn’t, I will continue hoping that the team does well.”
Cafu said he held no grudge against Brazil’s football confederation president Jose Maria Marin, who reportedly ordered Cafu’s dressing-room snub.
“Now is the time to implement a long-term plan,” the former Roma and Milan defender said.
“European football has evolved a lot. It’s a good thing that Brazil now has to try to innovate too. It is nothing to be ashamed of.”
Dunga was appointed Brazil’s manager for a second time Tuesday.
The 1994 World Cup-winning captain replaced Luiz Felipe Scolari, who resigned after the team’s failure to reach the World Cup final as hosts and pre-tournament favourites.
Dunga named Andrey Lopes as his assistant and 1994 World Cup-winning teammate Taffarel as goalkeeping coach.
A second assistant role, to be initially filled by former Brazil midfielder Mauro Silva, will be rotated among former Selecao players.
Meanwhile, Costa Rica coach Jorge Luis Pinto announced on Thursday that he was parting company with the Central American side after a breakdown in talks with the national federation.
Colombian Pinto, 61, had coached “Los Ticos” since 2011, leading them to a historic World Cup quarter-final run in Brazil.
Costa Rica lost to the Netherlands on penalties but they were never beaten in open play despite facing three World Cup-winners as well as former European champions Greece.
The tiny Central American nation were written off after being drawn in arguably the tournament’s toughest group, but they shocked both Uruguay and Italy and drew against England.
In the round of 16, they played for an hour with 10 men before beating Greece on penalties, and they held off the Netherlands before being shaded on spot-kicks.
In a coaching career spanning 30 years Pinto has led clubs in Colombia and Peru. He first coached Costa Rica in 2004-2005, followed by the Colombian national side from 2007-2008. He returned to Costa Rica in 2011.
Pinto said that he had not yet decided on his future plans.
In other news, television pundit Lee Yong-soo was named as the South Korean Football Association’s new technical chief on Thursday, charged with appointing a new head coach for the upcoming Asian Cup.
Lee, who does commentary for the KBS station and is a professor of physical education at Sejong University in Seoul, resumes the role he held in 2002 when South Korea finished fourth at their home World Cup.
He replaces Hwangbo Kwan, who, along with head coach Hong Myung-bo, stepped down after the Koreans managed only one point in a group stage exit at the recently concluded World Cup in Brazil.
“I decided someone had to do it, and so I am back after some 10 years,” Lee, 54, said.
“The most pressing matter now is obviously to name the new national team head coach.
“I am not yet at a point where I can say whether we will bring in a South Korean coach or a foreign coach.” Twice winners South Korea have been drawn in Group A of the 2015 Asian Cup in January alongside hosts Australia, Oman and Kuwait.
