Dante has told Thomas Müller to stop making jokes about Brazil’s 7-1 defeat against Germany last summer or he will punch him.
Since that World Cup semi-final defeat in July, Dante, the Brazil centre-back, has endured months of jokes at the hands of his Bayern Munich team-mates, many of whom were in the Germany team.
But the worst offender has been Müller, who scored the first goal in the Estádio Mineirão in Belo Horizonte.
Talking to the Brazilian TV channel Globoesporte, he said: “The Germans joked about it, especially just after the game, up to the moment when I said it was the time to stop. The 7-1 was something more serious than people realised.
“We can joke about anything, but not about this. Not all the Germans were like this but Thomas is the big joker. I said to him: ‘If you don’t stop, I’m going to hit you in every training session.’
“This doesn’t make me laugh and when someone doesn’t laugh, it means they are annoyed.”
Dante, 31, added the defeat has changed the way people look at him and he thinks he will not get a recall to the national team, now managed by Carlos Dunga.
He said: “I felt that people have sort of pushed me to one side since then, in restaurants, in the street. I only think when you are sad and have endured this sort of upset, you need some affection from people who are close to you, to help recover your self-esteem.
“As for the national team, I know that Brazil has a culture that players over 30 are not usually picked. But if I am called up, I would play with great pleasure.”