I have always been interested in the Portuguese language. I’m not an expert in the language, but I have adequate knowledge – if I didn’t, I’d hardly be writing in this space.
I like semantics (meaning and meaning of words) and stylistics (refined and elegant writing). I sometimes find myself wanting to invent terms or words, as I did when creating the verb “trumpar”, in allusion to Donald Trump.
This time, the character is Carlo Ancelotti, 66, an Italian who manages the Brazilian team. I have been following him through interviews and the questions he answers after calling the team.
I realize that Carleto has beliefs and insistences, which I call: ancelottices. Attitudes that can be positive, but in my current perspective I see them as, if not negative, dubious or not very understandable.
Ancelottice 1: Richarlison (belief). Holder in the 2022 World Cup, he lost his good football. Goals disappeared, the reserve came at Tottenham. Even so, Ancelotti calls him and has faith that he can be the center forward in the 2026 World Cup. Exaggerated confidence in someone who shows reduced ability. (Recover soon, Pedro.)
Ancelottice 2: Fabrício Bruno (insistence). The defender who plays great in the Brazilian with Cruzeiro, in his first opportunity with Ancelotti, against Japan, failed miserably in the goal that started the Japanese comeback. Ancelotti must like Fabrício, but I will have butterflies in my stomach every time he gets the ball. (Thiago Silva, in his forties, offers more security.)
Ancelottice 3: Fabinho (belief). Mediocre player who has been forgotten in football since leaving Liverpool (one of the best teams in the world), in 2023, for Al Ittihad (mid-table in Saudi Arabia). And he had been out of the team since the 2022 World Cup, when he was Casemiro’s reserve. He returns to be Casemiro’s reserve, with the difference of being four years older, at 32. Ancelotti considers that both have similar characteristics, but it is comparing first-class meat with second-class. Mediocre for mediocre, for the first midfielder André, from Wolverhampton (England), or Éderson, from Atalanta (Italy), would be better, younger.
Ancelottice 4: left back (insistence on not insistence). Ancelotti chose the position to experiment without parsimony. During his short period leading the national team, he called up Alex Sandro, Carlos Augusto, Douglas Santos, Caio Henrique and, now, Luciano Juba. For the friendlies against Senegal and Tunisia, Juba, Alex Sandro and Caio Henrique are in the group. One of them will train and then support (for the team and to join, as he will not be a starter). So many people there, and only one called up (Lucas Paquetá) for the midfield, a sector with endemic shortages in which it is necessary to test or retest more people (Andreas Pereira, Gerson, Alan Patrick, Matheus Pereira).
The call-up menu was a bit insipid, and the ancelottices denote Carleto’s stubbornness and/or disorientation, with some indecipherable decisions, which, however, I hope, are understandable to him and his coaching staff.
What is not understandable is Ancelotti still stumbling badly in the Portuguese he intended to learn in up to six months. It doesn’t have to be Machado de Assis, but you can no longer change yesterday to “ayer” and start with “empezar”. A little more basic study is necessary.
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