Return of Parreira, reluctant guardian of beautiful game

Carlos Alberto Parreira was adamant. After running the gauntlet en route to victory in the 1994 World Cup, there was no way he would step back in the firing line and coach Brazil again. "I don't miss it at all," he told me three years ago. "The treatment the Brazil coach receives is inhuman. For four years I had to gather all my spiritual strength to stand it all. I don't know if today I'd be able to do it – or want to do it."

It was a position he steadfastly maintained until Wednesday morning when he was again announced as Brazil's new coach in succession to Luiz Felipe Scolari who quit after the nation's fifth World Cup victory, in Japan and South Korea last summer.

Parreira had been expected to take the backroom post of national team co-ordinator, with his protégé Oswaldo de Oliveira coming in as coach. Instead Brazil have opted to go back a generation. Parreira is 60 next month. His co-ordinator, Mario Zagallo, is 71.

Zagallo's career encompasses the half-century in which Brazil have dominated the global game. A player in the World Cup wins of 1958 and 1962, he was the coach in 1970. Parreira was also there, as assistant to the fitness coach. So astute was his tactical input that he was marked out as one for the future – a promise fulfilled 24 years later when, with Zagallo as his co-ordinator, Parreira took a highly organised team to triumph at USA 94.

The one-time apprentice had become a sorcerer in his own right. Now Parreira and Zagallo come together once more in a surprise attempt to recapture the old magic.

Two years ago Parreira gave the impression of a man in semi-retirement, winding down his career with a succession of half-hearted spells at Brazilian clubs. However, a successful year with Corinthians of São Paulo has left him completely reinvigorated.

His team played patient attacking football, winning the Brazilian Cup and coming close to completing the double. Doing so well with the biggest club in Brazil's biggest city has obvious political spin-offs. Parreira had always been viewed – and condemned – as a member of Zagallo's Rio de Janeiro clique. Now, for the first time, he can count on some support from the São Paulo press.

Another powerful incentive is the chance to work with Brazil's new generation. The giant country's production line of talent always appears to be working overtime, but has outdone itself of late. The key figures in Santos's championship-winning side were the 17-year-old playmaker Diego and the striker Robinho, 18. The pair are the most promising players Brazil has produced since Ronaldo – praise indeed since it places them above the likes of Ronaldinho, Denilson, Kaka and Adriano. Parreira made it clear he has no qualms about selecting them at senior level.

The role of Zagallo was also important in forcing Parreira to change his mind. Strength of will and boundless ambition are at the root of all Zagallo's triumphs. Unlike Parreira, he has never been reluctant about sitting in the coconut shy.

Zagallo was on a committee set up to choose the new coach. If Parreira took over as co-ordinator there would be no role for himself. So he went to work on his old friend, wearing him down with a succession of phone calls and talking him round to letting the old double act ride again.

Brazil, then, have gone back to basics. There will be no more experiments with three centre-backs. Parreira's team will play 4-4-2 and base their game on possession of the ball.

Zagallo's wife feels that Brazil's dynamic duo must be mad to take on the burden of responsibility once more. Football lovers will hope that it is a beautiful madness.