Marquinhos: Brazil united and humble under Tite

Marquinhos said head coach Tite is uniting Brazil and keeping the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying leaders grounded in their quest for glory.

Brazil have not lost a match since Tite replaced Dunga following the Copa America Centenario in the United States last year – a run of eight consecutive wins.

Tite’s tenure reached new heights when five-time world champions Brazil crushed rivals Uruguay 4-1 in qualifying on Thursday as the South American giants moved a step closer to Russia 2018 and centre-back Marquinhos heaped praise on the humble 55-year-old.

“He always maintains a good level. Tite is a coach who likes to keep his feet on the ground and who likes to have a team whose feet are on the ground as well,” Marquinhos.

“He is a coach who likes to know why he won. So for you to win you have to be humble and respect the opponent, and to be able to respect the opponent it’s hard work.

“It’s giving your all on the pitch. It’s having a good game and understanding why you won. So he looks to pass this on to the team.”

Marquinhos added: “We are playing well and it’s because of the collective effort in the Brazilian national team.

“It’s not just the defenders that defend, it’s the whole team. We see Neymar, [Roberto] Firmino and [Philippe] Coutinho playing well in their positions to be able to score.

“Paulinho, Renato Augusto and Casemiro are there to know that we can count on them to attack the ball and cover us as well. I believe the group has been really strong and has helped us go after everything.”

Brazil are seven points clear atop the standings after 13 matches and have the chance to extend their lead when they welcome Paraguay to Sao Paulo on Tuesday.

Paraguay are seventh, two points adrift of the fifth and final qualification spot.

“Paraguay are a team who are hard to play against. They have a great show of forces and fight a lot on the pitch,” the Paris Saint-Germain defender said.

“We’ve had games against them that have been really hard. If I’m not wrong the last two games they’ve had they’ve played well. I think that we are living a big moment, so we have to focus a lot and do a good job.

“They have a coach, Francisco Arce, that knows Brazilian football well. So I think that he is going to impose his style on the game. It’s going to be a beautiful game, a well-played game. But we are going to do our best on the pitch to be able to come out with a win.”