Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri (born 31 October 1963), commonly known as Dunga (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈdũɡɐ]), is a Brazilian football manager and former professional player. Considered one of the greatest defensive midfielders of all time, as a player, he was known for his technique, athleticism, passing range, solid tackles and first touch.
Under the captaincy Dunga took from Raí, Brazil won the 1994 FIFA World Cup and became runners-up of the following edition. He and Xavi are the only two men to have played in a World Cup final, an Olympic final, a Confederations Cup final and a continental championship final.
Dunga coached Brazil in two separate tenures. His first spell gave the Seleção two titles, the 2007 Copa América and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, as well as an Olympic bronze medal at Beijing 2008 before ending in an exit from the 2010 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals. Four years later, in 2014, the Brazilian Football Confederation appointed Dunga again but dismissed him after Brazil's early exit from the Copa América Centenario. He also led Internacional briefly in 2013.
Dunga was born in Ijuí, Rio Grande do Sul of Italian and German descent. His uncle nicknamed him "Dunga", derived from the Portuguese translation of "Dopey", one of the Seven Dwarfs from Disney's 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, due to his small stature in childhood. It was believed that Dunga would be a short adult and the nickname remained in use even after he grew up and became taller.
Dunga has an ongoing financial dispute with English club Queens Park Rangers. He claims he loaned £750,000 to QPR as an investor in the club when it was under previous owners but the new owners are refusing to give it back. QPR have stated that the cheque Dunga paid to them had bounced and he is aware of this fact.
At club level, Dunga played for Internacional (1980–84, 1999–2000), Corinthians (1984–85), Santos (1985–87), Vasco da Gama (1987), Pisa (1987–88), Fiorentina (1988–92), Pescara (1992–93), VfB Stuttgart (1993–95) and finally Júbilo Iwata (1995–98).
Dunga's international career began in 1983 at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, where he captained the Brazilian under-20 team to win the tournament after beating Argentina in the final. A year later, he made the 1984 Summer Olympics silver medal-winning Brazil squad, which also had Mauro Galvão and Luiz Carlos Winck among others.
Dunga debuted for the Brazilian senior squad during a 1–1 friendly draw against England in 1987. He was part of the national side that won the 1989 Copa América on home soil, by defeating Uruguay 2–0 at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro; he played in six of his country's seven games throughout the tournament.
Dunga was a starter for Brazil at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, during which he was held more responsible than his teammates for the team's worst campaign at a World Cup since 1966, after a lackluster tournament and the squad's subsequent elimination in the second round by archrivals Argentina, drawing criticism from former Brazil international and three–time World Cup winner Pelé. In the following years, Dunga was consistently targeted by Brazilian press due to his supposedly "thuggish" style of playing. This period in Brazil's football history became known as the "Dunga Era" in the media, and symbolized a less-than-thrilling, slow, gritty, direct and defensive style that the Brazil national team had adopted in favour of a more exciting attacking style. Dunga played the anchor role in midfield extremely effectively, due to his ability to break down play and subsequently start attacks with his passing. 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 to win challenges and retrieve the ball. Despite his infamous reputation, Brazil's new coach Carlos Alberto Parreira kept Dunga as one of the starting line-up throughout the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification and final.
Playmaker Raí initially started the 1994 World Cup in the United States as the Brazilian team's captain, but after allegedly being held responsible for Brazil's poor performances early on in the tournament, he was eventually dropped altogether in favour of Mazinho. Dunga took over the captaincy and went on to lift the trophy. Dunga set-up Romário's opening goal in a 3–0 win over Cameroon in the first round, and scored the third penalty kick in the shoot-out victory against Italy in the final following a goalless draw after extra time. According to FIFA, the lack of attacking play in the final of the tournament against Italy was in part down to strong holding midfield play by Dino Baggio for Italy, as well as Dunga and Mauro Silva for Brazil. Throughout the World Cup, Dunga completed the most passes (692) and tackles (57), both World Cup records. In the aforementioned match against Italy, he also set a record for completing the most passes ever in a World Cup final (130), and is only one of three players ever to have completed over 100 passes in a World Cup final, with the others being Spain's Rodri (101) and Pau Cubarsí (121) in 2026.
Dunga retained the role of the Brazil national team's captain for the next four years until the 1998 FIFA World Cup, in which he participated, despite playing in the Japanese J. League, considered a lower standard of competitive football at the time. He won the 1997 Copa América, scoring his only goal in the competition in a 2–0 win over Colombia in the first round. The 1998 World Cup was notable for the tensions and lack of teamwork within the Brazilian side. It was often visible on the pitch as demonstrated by the fact that 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. Despite these difficulties, Brazil went on to reach the final of the tournament, where they lost 3–0 to hosts France; this was Dunga's final international appearance. En route to the final, Dunga set-up César Sampaio's first goal in a 4–1 win over Chile in the round of 16, and also recorded an assist on Rivaldo's second goal in a 3–2 win over Denmark in the quarter-finals. Dunga also scored his team's fourth penalty kick in the shootout victory against the Netherlands in the semi-finals.
In total, Dunga made 91 senior-level appearances for Brazil, scoring six goals.
On 24 July 2006, Dunga was named as the new national coach of the Brazil national team as a replacement for Carlos Alberto Parreira, despite the fact that he had no prior coaching experience at the professional level. Pundit Tim Vickery wrote that Parreira was perceived as passive, while Dunga was considered to be passionate and involved like 2002 FIFA World Cup-winning manager Luiz Felipe Scolari; Dunga agreed with the comparison. Alex Bellos wrote that Parreira was blamed for Brazil's 2006 World Cup exit due to deferring to star players, while Dunga was viewed as a tougher presence. It was believed in the Brazilian media believed that Dunga would serve as manager only until Scolari became available.
Dunga's first match in charge was against Norway in Oslo on 16 August 2006, a 1–1 draw. His team lined up without Ronaldo, Ronaldinho or Kaká, and their equaliser was scored by CSKA Moscow's Daniel Carvalho. On 3 September, his team took on arch-rivals Argentina on 3 September at Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium in London, and won 3–0, with two goals by Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Elano.
Dunga's first competitive games were at the 2007 Copa América in Venezuela. His squad was without Ronaldinho and Kaká who had asked to be excused, or Ronaldo and Adriano who were out of form. Gilberto and Dani Alves were replacements at full-back for the retired Cafu and Roberto Carlos, while Robinho, Vagner Love and Afonso Alves were among the attacking options. The team won their second consecutive continental title by beating Argentina in the final 3–0. Vickery wrote that opposing manager Alfio Basile played a passing game similar to how Brazil had played in the 1980s, but Dunga's Brazil had a physical presence and quick counter-attacking, that was similar to teams that had beaten previous Brazil sides.