Former World Cup winning captain Dunga is the favorite on a short list of candidates to coach Brazil's national soccer team, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation said on Friday.

Dunga, whose real name is Carlos Bledorn Verri, previously coached Brazil from 2006-10, when he won the 2007 Copa America and the 2009 Confederations Cup.

He was fired by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) after losing to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup.

Dunga reportedly has a good relationship with Gilmar Rinaldi, who on Thursday was named general manager of Brazil's national teams.

Both were part of the 1994 World Cup winning team.

The CBF and Dunga, 50, began talks early last week, a second source said.

"He is the frontrunner on the list and things are moving forward satisfactorily," a second source said.

"There were important meetings that took place in Sao Paulo and Gilmar is fine-tuning details already."

A new coach to replace Luiz Felipe Scolari is expected to be named on Tuesday.

Scolari, who guided Brazil to its fifth World Cup title in 2002, resigned as coach last week in the wake of the host squad's 7-1 humiliation by eventual champion Germany 7-1 in the semifinals, followed by a 3-0 loss to the Netherlands for third place.

Both sources dismissed recent reports that Tite, who led Corinthians to the World Club Championship in 2012, and Sao Paulo manager Muricy Ramalho were frontrunners for the position.

Dunga's last job was as coach of Internacional, where he spent a great part of his playing career, but was fired last October after a fourth successive loss in the Brazilian league.

At the helm of Brazil's national team, he led the squad to 42 victories, 12 draws and six defeats.

(China Daily 07/20/2014 page11)