And the Best Coach in the World is…
… Dunga? According to German number-lovers IFFHS he is, topping their national team coach rankings with 148 points. Not bad going for his first ever managerial job. Our Brazil blogger Euler isn’t convinced, but concedes that results wise the IFFHS have a point. Winning the 2007 Copa America was obviously a big achievement and the central reason Dunga sits atop the list. And in fairness to Dunga, he won the competition with some smart tactical decisions, especially the way his defensive midfielders closed down Argentina in the final last summer.
Runner up with 101 points is Slaven Bilić, another first time manager who led Croatia to Euro 2008 by topping qualification Group E and making short work of England. Twice. I’ve checked and doublechecked and Steve McClaren’s name is nowhere to be found on the IFFHS list. Third place goes to another Brazilian named Jorvan Vieira, with 83 points. Never heard of him? He pulled off probably the greatest bit of international management this century by guiding unfancied Iraq to Asian Cup glory. Top 25 managers after the jump.
1. Dunga (Brazil) 148 points
2. Slaven Bilić (Croatia) 101
3. Jorvan Vieira (Iraq) 83
4. Karel Brückner (Czech Republic) 59
5. Joachim Löw (Germany) 56
6. Guus Hiddink (Australia*) 51
7. Otto Rehhagel (Greece) 43
8. Raymond Domenech (France) 40
9. Roberto Donadoni (Italy)38
=10. Alfio Basile (Argentina) 36
=10. Luiz Felipe Scolari (Portugal) 36
12. Silvia Neid (Germany Women) 28
13. Hugo Sánchez (México) 27
14. Leo Beenhakker (Poland) 25
=15. Alex McLeish (Scotland) 21
=15. Hugo Daniel Tocalli (Argentina U-20) 21
17. Marco van Basten (Holland) 19
=18. José Luis Aragonés (Spain)14
=18. Victor Piţurcă (Romania) 14
20. Richard Páez (Venezuela) 9
21. Dror Kashtan (Israel) 8
22. Roy Hodgson (Finland) 7
23. Bob Bradley (USA) 6
24. Hélio dos Anjos (Saudi Arabia) 5
=25. Igor Dobrovolsky (Moldova) 5
=25. Robert Nouzaret (Guinea) 5
*maybe they meant to say Russia?
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Comments
By AJ | January 11th, 2008 at 6:23 pm 
Dunga, the rookie, over big Phill, Hiddink and Basile? Heck even Domenech deserves to be higher than Dunga! Horrible ranking.
Posted from 
Canada
By AJ | January 11th, 2008 at 6:28 pm Dunga, the rookie and novice, over big Phill, Hiddink and Basile? Heck even Domenech deserves to be higher than Dunga! Other than winning Copa 07, which was purely a fluke and a ton of luck, he hasn’t done much. Brazil sucked for most of the tournament anyway. The final was more a case of Argentina playing awful, while Brazil remained the same…nothing magical or inspiring at the last minute.
But regardless, horrible ranking.
Posted from Canada
By Luis | January 11th, 2008 at 9:17 pm At the Copa America, Brazil were awarded a lot of penalties that weren’t even actual fouls. In the semifinal shootout, the last penalty saved by Brazil’s goalkeeper wasn’t valid. Brazil won, and Dunga won, thanks to a lot of Referee mistakes.
Posted from 
United States
By Euler | January 12th, 2008 at 5:16 am Unbelievable how people are still crying about Brazil win over Argentina in the Copa America. What I saw was a team not playing and another playing its heart out. There could not be another result at that final.
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