Pele says he cried watching Brazil’s 7-1 loss at the 2014 World Cup, not because of the score, but “because I do not know what happened to the joy of Brazilian football.” In aninterview with David Hirshey while in New York to promote a new biopic about his life, “Pele: The Birth of a Legend,” Pele said:
“Maybe this summer inthe Olympics and Copa America, we can remind the world of how Brazil plays soccer, but it will not be easy. I fear we have lost our way.”
On why Brazil doesn’t have moreNeymars, Pele blamed national team coach Dunga:
“Myself, Gerson, Rivelino, and Tostao were all No. 10s and yet [Brazil coachMario Zagallo] wanted us all on the field at the same time, so he created a formation that could accommodate us [during Brazil’s 1970 World Cup victory]. Then in Japan [in 2002], wehad Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo who all had great flair, and we won again. But today we have a coach [Dunga] who doesn’t care about individual expression.”