BOSTON, April 7 -- Brazil must do more to keep the country's top players from going to European clubs if the national team is to return to its former glory, according to Selecao head coach Tite.
Brazil won the last of their five World Cups 17 years ago and Tite, whose real name is Adenor Leonardo Bacchi, says the title drought is linked with the decline of the country's top domestic competitions.
"The [World Cup title wait] has do with a series of factors," Tite told students from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) during a conference in Boston.
"Our local competitions are restricted. Economically we need to keep our top athletes in Brazil."
Tite warned that greater investment and higher salaries would not alone guarantee a stronger local football scene. He said that studies are needed to identify deficiencies in competitions such as the flagship Serie A championship - Brazil's first division - and the youth football system.
He also said that Brazil's players were impacted by an "emotional imbalance" in their cataclysmic 7-1 World Cup semifinal defeat to Germany in 2017.
Tite, who took charge of Brazil in June 2016, led the South American giants to the quarterfinals of last year's World Cup in Russia, where they were eliminated by Belgium.