In the aftermath of Brazil’s 2015 Copa America exit, coach Dunga revealed one factor that could have helped hinder their progression, claiming virus hit his squad in the days leading up to their quarter-final game.
The Selecao locked horns with Paraguay in a repeat of the last edition of the continental tournament, which saw them fall to the very exact fate as in 2011, losing on penalties and crashing out at the hands of La Albirroja.
In his post-match conference, the manager confessed that many of his players were under the weather, singling out Chelsea star Willian in particular, but stressed it is not an excuse for their elimination.
"It's not an excuse, but 15 of our players suffered from a virus this week. We had to limit some training sessions," Dunga stated.
"Players suffered from a lot of headaches, back pain and illness -- some felt it more than others. We had to reduce the intensity of training to try and help them recover. Some of them were vomiting.
"Willian wasn't feeling well at half-time, and Robinho was suffering in the end."
Dunga: "It's not an excuse, but 15 players had a virus so we couldn't train properly." Filipe Luís: "I didn't know anything about that..."
— Jack Lang (@jacklang) June 28, 2015
A Neymar-less Brazil, despite breaking the deadlock early through a Robinho strike, were unable to hold their lead, resulting in a penalty shoot-out. Nonetheless, Dunga did not blame his back four, but instead underlined his lackluster attack as a vital factor.
"We had to balance the match on the physical aspect, and tried to win until the very end," Dunga said.
"We tried to neutralise their main game-plan -- the aerial ball. We had good moments through the match, with speed and switching between the sides.
"Today we had an important match that needed speed and we lacked that in the end."
