‘Who won over the past two days? It was the process’

Compared to his celebration, jumping out of his seat and hugging a member of the support staff when Richarlison scored with a sumptuous side volley against Serbia, Tite’s reaction to Casemiro’s matchwinner on Monday was a lot more muted.

The Brazil head coach stood on one side of the technical area near the team bench looking pensive. When Matheus Bachi, one of the assistant coaches, walked up, Tite held his face and kissed him on the cheek.

Bachi, 33, is Tite’s son and a former college-level footballer. “I am lucky to have Matheus as an assistant,” said Tite after the game at Stadium 974.

After pointing out that Carlo Ancelotti’s son helps him too, Tite said: “I believe in showing my emotions.”

Ancelotti’s son Davide is an assistant at Real Madrid. It is normal to have sons choosing the profession of their fathers, said Tite. “There are a lot of musicians whose children take music as a career. The children of my family physician are all doctors.”

Because their code of ethics barred hiring of relatives, the Brazilian federation CBF had to change its rules in 2016 to allow Tite to have his son in the backroom staff. Bachi was also with Tite, 61, at Corinthians when he took charge of the top Brazilian club in 2014.

Monday’s victory, achieved without star forward Neymar Jr who is nursing an ankle injury, showed that Brazil have a range of options, said Tite. “Who won over the past two days? It was the process. The process of getting these athletes, many of whom are young and in their first World Cup, ready over the past four years for the World Cup is my Man of the Match. Otherwise, it would have been very difficult,” he said.

The head coach said starting with Lucas Paqueta was a “tactical option.” Brazil, he said, were up against a very difficult team. “Switzerland had the best defensive record among teams that qualified from Europe,” he said.

Switzerland conceded two goals, scoring 15, in eight qualifying games on way to topping their group and sending European champions Italy to the play-off rounds from where they were eliminated. In 2006, when they lost in the second round to Ukraine on penalties, Switzerland became the only team in the history of the World Cup to have been eliminated without conceding a goal. It is a record that still stands.

“They are a team that sits back and invites opposition to go at them and make a mistake. ‘I will then come out then and punish you,’ they say. Serbia were more attacking in that sense. Switzerland have a goalkeeper good with his feet and a lot of great players. We used Paqueta and when the game required a different option, sent out Rodrygo,” he said.

Rodrygo started the second half replacing Paqueta. His arrival helped Brazil impose themselves more against a team that was resolute in defence. “It was like a chess game,” said Tite’s assistant former international Caesar Sampaio.

Tite said the “system will not change” in the final group league game against Cameroon on Friday despite the team already qualifying for the round of 16.

Switzerland coach Murat Yakin said the result could have been different had his team “showed a little more courage in offence.” Switzerland had no shots on target in the game, Brazil had five. “We lacked creativity and decisiveness to go for it,” he said.

Praising the team’s defensive show – it takes a lot of concentration and focus to keep Brazil from scoring for 83 minutes, the coach said – Yakin felt Friday’s game against Serbia would be different and that he was confident “Switzerland will be in a position to go through.”