BRAZIL COACH TITE urged supporters to not panic after Saturday’s embarrassing 1-1 draw with Panama, adamant a drop in standard is “normal” when young players are given opportunities.
Although Lucas Paqueta gave Brazil a first-half lead with his maiden international goal, Panama hit back after the interval with an equaliser that should not have stood due to scorer Adolfo Machado being offside.
Brazil piled pressure on towards the end, but they failed to find the winner to mask a generally disappointing performance.
Tite is not particularly concerned, however, suggesting he expected a less complete performance having called up several younger players.
“What do we establish at this stage now? We gave young people opportunities,” Tite told reporters.
“It was a bad result, and the first half was below our expectations. After half-time there were some adjustments we made.
At the interval we were able to reorganise and we then went to a level of normality, but the first half was below expectations.
“It’s normal. Today we had a defensive line with [Eder] Militao and [Alex] Telles. This is the stage we are in.
“When we go to the Copa America, then I make the best choices. My expectation was to be a bit more creative, but I also have to accept that the midfield is going to make errors.
“I have to make these modifications so that the game can have a creative process with the forwards.
The supporters are there to listen, to understand, to be annoyed by the result. Normally that’s the way it is.
“If I am a fan, I want to win against Panama. We have to understand the context, just as we have to understand the construction of the team.
“We will extend opportunities to the emerging players, because soon I will not have any more chances to do so.”
Murray Kinsella and Andy Dunne dissect Ireland’s disappointing Six Nations campaign, and discuss the pros and cons of rugby’s new law proposals in the latest episode of The42 Rugby Weekly:
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