Brazil Soccer Coach Goes From ‘Donkey’ to Savior With Young Team
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When Brazil soccer coach Luiz Felipe Scolari’s young Confederations Cup squad struggled in exhibition matches, thousands of fans booed the team and some called the coach a “donkey.”
Record five-time World Cup champion Brazil came into the tournament ranked 22nd, its lowest placing ever in soccer governing body FIFA’s national team rankings. Many in the soccer-mad country feared a flop at next year’s World Cup, the first hosted by Brazil since 1950.