JOHANNESBURG // Ronaldinho, the former World and European Player of the Year who was left out of Brazil's squad for the Confederations Cup, still has a role to play, the coach Dunga said.
Dunga omitted the out-of-form playmaker for both of Brazil's recent World Cup qualifiers and this tournament in South Africa, but he told a news conference before last night's final against the United States that Ronaldhino could yet return to the squad.
"I would like him to come back," said Dunga, "but whether he will I don't know. I think you must address that question to him directly. He obviously has that responsibility on his shoulders, it depends more on him than on me, but I would like him to return."
Before the tournament started, Dunga said he wanted Ronaldinho to return to full form before he picked him again. Ronaldinho has failed to settle at AC Milan since his move from Barcelona last year and has recently been confined mostly to the bench. He was substituted in Brazil's 1-1 World Cup qualifyer in Ecuador last March after one of his worst performances at international level and found himself among the substitutes for the following game at home to Peru and came on late with Brazil leading 3-0.
However, Brazil have not exactly missed him over the past two weeks. Brazil scored 10 goals in their three opening matches against Egypt (4-3), the USA (3-0) and Italy (3-0) in the qualifying group and, although they only beat hosts South Africa 1-0 in Thursday's semi-final, they still created 23 scoring opportunities.
Dunga also rejected a remark made by the former Germany captain and manager Franz Beckenbauer that Brazil's attack of Robinho, Luis Fabiano and Kaka, was not potent enough to win the World Cup next year.
"Anyone can have an opinion," said Dunga. "So let's just look at the number of goals we scored here. We had the best attack in the group stages and scored 10 goals and you can't argue against the numbers and the facts."
* Reuters
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Skewed figures
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Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 1', Kane 8' & 16') West Ham United 3 (Balbuena 82', Sanchez og 85', Lanzini 90' 4)
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How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
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Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
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Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
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A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
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The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
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Januzaj's club record
Manchester United 50 appearances, 5 goals
Borussia Dortmund (loan) 6 appearances, 0 goals
Sunderland (loan) 25 appearances, 0 goals
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MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Ukraine 2 (Yaremchuk 06', Yarmolenko 27')
Portugal 1 (Ronaldo 72' pen)
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Croatia v Hungary, Thursday, 10.45pm, UAE
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances