Dunga won the Copa America and Confederations Cup but missed out on the two titles which really mattered to the Brazilian public - the 2008 Olympic Games football and the 2010 World Cup.
He has occasionally shown disdain for the so-called Jogo Bonito (Beautiful Game), saying that the hugely entertaining 1982 World Cup team were "specialists in losing" while Pele's 1970 side looked better in television replays.
Having put all his eggs in the victory basket, he can expect a mauling from the critics similar to the one dished out to Sebastiao Lazaroni, who said he had been made to feel like a criminal after Brazil's second-round elimination in 1990.
Dunga had no previous coaching experience when he was handed the job following Brazil's lacklustre display at the last World Cup but was given the job thanks to his reputation as a gritty, patriotic midfielder.
"The biggest result was that we managed to rescue the honour of playing for Brazil," he told reporters. "You need to see the faces of players now in the dressing-room.
"I'm proud to be in charge of this group, thanks to the way they have behaved."
"We've been away from home for 52 days with no holiday and nobody has complained, there has been no controversy and everything has been transparent."
Brazil won 41 out of 59 games under Dunga's leadership and lost only six but it was rare for them to dominate a match from start to finish and play the flowing football for which they are known.
Their best performances came away from home in the South American qualifying competition, where the opposition would obligingly come out and attack, leaving spaces at the back for Brazil's lethal counter-attacks.
