December 09, (THEWILL) – After Brazil’s elimination from the World Cup, Tite reaffirmed his intention to leave his position as coach, insisting that his “cycle” is over.
The 61-year-old announced in February, that he would step down as Selecao manager after Qatar 2022. And on Friday, Croatia eliminated Brazil from the competition, defeating them 4-2 on penalties following a 1-1 deadlock after extra time.
Just before the end of extra time, Neymar scored a fantastic goal to give Brazil the lead but Bruno Petkovic’s deflected goal tied the score with less than an hour remaining. Brazil’s defeat meant they had to leave the World Cup in the quarterfinals for the second time under Tite, but he is adamant that this would not alter his plans for the future.
Tite said: “It is indeed very difficult, but it’s a stalemate now about the end of my cycle with the Brazil squad. I think the cycle ended and I said that [over] half a year ago. I keep to my word; we shouldn’t make a drama about this.
“I said back then there are other great professionals who can replace me. In the past [2018] we lost the World Cup, but I needed a full cycle. Now I had the full cycle. The cycle is over.”
