The Olympic soccer tournament holds far more prestige in Latin America than Europe and Brazil regard it at the only major championship which has eluded them. The closest they came was in 1984 and 1988 when they lost in the final to France and the Soviet Union respectively.

With every Olympic Games that comes along, the anxiety and the pressure goes, and every failure invariably claims a high-profile casualty.

In 1996, the victim was Rivaldo. Included as one of the three permitted overage players, Rivaldo was made the scapegoat after an astonishing 4-3 semi-final defeat by Nigeria and lost his place in the senior side for more than one year.

Four years later, senior national team coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo volunteered to double up as Olympic team coach and lost both jobs after a quarter-final loss to Cameroon.

Meanwhile, the once promising career of Ricardo Gomes came to an abrupt end after his team failed to even qualify four years ago.

This time around, Dunga, coach of the senior team, has, like Luxemburgo before him, offered to look after the Olympic team as well.

With many of his Olympic hopefuls based in Europe and with European clubs not obliged to release them for under-23 games, Dunga’s time for preparation is minimal.

But, after his side were thumped 3-0 by a Brazilian championship select XI in a friendly last Sunday, indications are that he will need all the time he can get.

Dunga, who knows that Olympic failure will offset last year’s success at the Copa America, stood on the touchline with the forlorn expression of a man wondering what he had let himself in for.

PHOTO: Dunga gestures during a training session at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, November 16, 2007, ahead of the senior side’s match against Peru. REUTERS/Bruno Domingos

* This post was edited at 1432 GMT to correct a typo in the lead.