Dunga

Lore & Background

Dunga was born in Ijuí, Rio Grande do Sul of Italian and German descent. His uncle nicknamed him 'Dunga', derived from the Portuguese translation of 'Dopey', one of the Seven Dwarfs from Disney's 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, due to his small stature in childhood. He has an ongoing financial dispute with English club Queens Park Rangers, claiming he loaned £750,000 to QPR as an investor; QPR have stated the cheque bounced.

In Their Own Story

The air in Pasadena was dry and hot, the kind that makes your lungs feel like sandpaper. Dunga stood at the edge of the penalty area, watching Baggio line up the ball. He did not look at the crowd. He did not look at the scoreboard. He looked at the ball, and he thought about 1990, about that locker room in Naples, about the silence after the final whistle. He thought about how they had come back. How they had not broken. His boots were scuffed, his shirt was dark with sweat, and his jaw was set in a way that the television cameras would later freeze into a thousand still images. Baggio struck the ball. It kissed the post and bounced wide. Dunga did not celebrate. He simply turned, walked to the centre of the pitch, and waited for the others to come. When they did — screaming, crying, tackling each other into a heap — he put a hand on each of their shoulders, one by one, and said nothing. He did not need to. They all knew what it meant. The fourth star was not a trophy. It was a promise kept.

Reader's Guide

At club level, Dunga played for Internacional (1980–84, 1999–2000), Corinthians (1984–85), Santos (1985–87), Vasco da Gama (1987), Pisa (1987–88), Fiorentina (1988–92), Pescara (1992–93), VfB Stuttgart (1993–95) and Júbilo Iwata (1995–98). Internationally, he captained Brazil's under-20 team to win the 1983 FIFA U-20 World Cup, made the 1984 Summer Olympics silver medal-winning squad, and debuted for the senior team in a 1987 friendly against England. He played in the 1990 FIFA World Cup (eliminated in the second round by Argentina), the 1994 FIFA World Cup (winner, captaining the side), and the 1998 FIFA World Cup (runner-up). He also won the 1989 and 1997 Copa América. As manager, he led Brazil to the 2007 Copa América title, the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, and an Olympic bronze in 2008, before being dismissed after the 2010 World Cup quarter-final exit and later after the Copa América Centenario.

Did You Know?

• Dunga set a World Cup record for most passes in a final (130) in 1994.
• He and Xavi are the only players to have appeared in a World Cup final, Olympic final, Confederations Cup final, and continental championship final.
• His nickname comes from the Disney character Dopey, due to his small childhood stature.