The Selecao have suffered a fall from grace in recent years after their 7-1 defeat to Germany at World Cup 2014 was followed by a quarter-final exit at this summer's Copa America.
Pele dismissed suggestions the nation no longer had the same love for the game, but admitted the current side are not yet a tight unit.
"We have not lost passion for football. We have the best players for Brazil but unfortunately, we don't have time to prepare the team," Pele told reporters.
"Individual players are important but to have a good team you need to play together well as a team. That's the big problem. Individually we have the best players but as a team we've a lot of problems.
"In my time the players used to belong to the clubs but today players are managed by their agents. Presently we have a lot of problems in different positions of the field."
Brazil captain Neymar is currently suspended for a red card he received during their Copa elimination at the hands of Paraguay, having also had his World Cup cut short by injury.
Asked whether the Barcelona forward can lead Brazil back towards silverware on his return, Pele added: "I hope Neymar wins a trophy for Brazil, he hails from Santos, the club I used to play for.
"My son Edinho was the one who trained him, so I feel proud and happy. He has a good future.
"Neymar, he could be one of the best players now, at the moment, no doubt."
No comments:
Post a Comment