Along with Xavi , he is one of only two men to have played in a World Cup final, an Olympic final, a Confederations Cup final and a continental championship final. He was head coach of Brazil twice. His nickname is derived from the Portuguese translation of "Dopey", a dwarf from the Disney version of Snow White , and was given to him by his uncle due to his short height during childhood. It was believed that he would be a short adult and the nickname remained in use even after he grew up and became taller.
Internationally, Dunga played 91 times for Brazil, scoring six goals. Dunga captained the young Brazilian squad , winning the tournament against Argentina in the final. Dunga was a starter for Brazil at the FIFA World Cup , which he was held responsible more so than his teammates for the worst campaign at a World Cup since after a lackluster tournament and the subsequent elimination in the second round by arch rivals Argentina.
In the following years, he would be consistently targeted by Brazilian press due to his supposedly "thuggish" style of playing. This period in Brazil's football history was called " Era Dunga ", as according to fans and journalists, he symbolized the less-than-thrilling, slow and defensive style of the team.
Dunga took the captaincy and went on to lift the trophy. Four years later, although playing in the lower standard J. League in Japan, he captained Brazil once more to the final where they lost to France. Dunga played the anchor role in midfield extremely effectively. Many other players in this position lunged into tackles and put themselves about, but Dunga rarely went to ground to make a tackle, instead using his anticipation and timing. In , he often served as the captain of the team.
Dunga scored the third penalty kick in the finals against Italy. The tournament was notable for the lack of teamwork. It was often visible as Dunga got into a fight with teammate Bebeto in the first round match against Morocco , forcing the rest of the team to break them up. Dunga also scored in the fourth penalty kick in the shootout eventually won by Brazil against the Netherlands in the semi-finals. On 24 July , Dunga was named as the new national coach of the Brazilian national team as a replacement for Carlos Alberto Parreira, despite the fact that he had no prior coaching experience at the professional level.
