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Lula da Silva backs new Brazil coach

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-07-30 15:33

Brazil's new national head soccer coach Mano Menezes shows photographers the Brazilian national team's jacket during a news conference in Rio de Janeiro July 26, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]

BRASILIA - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed on Wednesday his support for new Brazil coach Mano Menezes, urging him to "prepare the squad to win 2014 World Cup."

In a press conference after receiving his Nicaraguan counterpart Daniel Ortega in the Itamaraty Palace, the headquarters of Brazilian Foreign Ministry, Lula said he believes the coach chosen by the country's soccer authorities is good.

The president, who claimed to be "a man believing in destiny", said: "The fate did not want us to win in South Africa and it want us to win in Brazil in 2014."

Replacing Dunga following Brazil's disappointing performance in South Africa, Menezes called 24 players on Saturday.

Only four member of Menezes' squad had played in the 2010 World Cup finals.