It’s an unusual policy.
After the 2014 World Cup, Thiago Silva was controversially stripped of the captaincy and was succeeded by Neymar. Dunga’s thinking behind the decision was that the defender was too emotionally led during the penalty shoot-out against Chile and he wanted a captain who was more level headed.
Since then, the captain’s armband has been passed around the squad after Neymar stepped down as permanent captain, fed up with the extra scrutiny that the position brought upon him.
Of course, the big characters in the squad and the more experienced heads – Marcelo, Miranda, Fernandinho – mean the team is not short of leaders but none of them have been officially made the team’s full-time captain.
Back when Brazil played England at Wembley last Autumn, Dani Alves bore the responsibility with great honour, but has had to sit out of this World Cup due to injury.
In their most recent friendly, against Croatia at Anfield, the privilege was given to Gabriel Jesus. Manchester City’s 21-year-old striker was a surprise choice given the more experienced players on the pitch, but it is Tite’s policy to spread the responsibility.
With that in mind, it is set to change hands once again for Brazil’s opening group stage game today, with Real Madrid’s Marcelo set to lead out the Seleção for their match against Switzerland.
It is expected that Tite will stick to this policy of not committing to one captain for the duration of the tournament, in which Brazil are one of the favourites to lift the trophy.
