Carlo Ancelotti will seek to rebuild bonds of love with the Brazilian people when the Seleção faces Haiti on Friday (19)in Philadelphia, in a decisive duel to reroute thetwo-time champions at the North American World Cup.
Os Brazilians welcomed ‘Carletto’ with open arms a year agowhen the Italian became the Seleção’s first foreign coach in six decades.
The countless records and titles in Europe gave him the strength to lead a team with great ambitionsbut which in recent years has moved away from the international elite.
Ancelotti, 67 years old, reciprocated Brazilian hospitality by visiting the famous Carnival and tourist attractions in Rio de Janeirorecording beer commercials and learning Portuguese, which is actually more of a “portunhol”.
But the bridges between the parties have, for the first time, a start of fireafter the disappointing debut against Morocco (1-1), and the The only way to put out the fire is to beat Haiti on Fridayat the end of the second round of Group C.
After leaving a bad image in front of Achraf Hakimi’s “Lions of the Atlas”, semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022the former Real Madrid coach received the first barrage of harsh criticism since taking charge of the Seleção.
‘There is no solid game’
National team legends, journalists and fans questioned the weak football presented by the teama trend that has been repeating itself since its debut, and the few opportunities given to young promises such as strikers Endrick and Rayan.
But they also criticize him for not being able to extract the best performance from stars like Vinícius Júnior, Casemiro and Raphinhawho usually shine at their clubs, and for having called up Neymar, who has not yet debuted due to a muscle injury in his right calf.
O shirt 10 will not travel with the team to Philadelphia and will remain in New Jersey to “optimize the final phase of his recovery process”, indicated the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) in a statement this Thursday.
“It is clear that in the Brazil there is no solid gamea collective, team game, like we were used to seeing in Ancelotti’s teams”, said the legendary Zico to ESPN this week.
The coach took office at a difficult time, with Brazil struggling to qualify for the World Cup and after having had three coaches since Tite’s departure at the end of the World Cup in Qatar.
Furthermore, the CBF was going through an internal crisis that culminated in the departure of president Ednaldo Rodrigues, with whom he negotiated his arrival.
Move the pieces?
The Italian, however, shielded the group from controversies and guaranteed a place for North Americabut the poor debut against Morocco on Saturday raised alarms around a team that hasn’t won the world title since 2002.
Ancelotti recognized that the team needs to improve and, therefore, throughout the weektested variations across all sectors, including putting names like Casemiro and Raphinha on the bench.
The premiere “scared (…) There was a lot of internal expectation to play a big game, of dominance, of pressure. When the opposite happens, it is not easy to manage”, admitted on Wednesday full-back Danilo, who could be a starter.
On paper, the duel against Haiti, which is competing in its first World Cup since 1974, seems like the perfect opportunity for the Seleção to recompose its stance.
But the tournament in North America has already shown that it can hold surprises: Spain and Portugal, two favorites for the title, stumbled against theoretically weaker rivals, Cape Verde (0-0) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (1-1).
“We cannot allow ourselves to make this comment that this is Haiti and that we are going to thrash them,” full-back Douglas Santos said on Tuesday. “We have to keep our feet on the groundbe humble and know that the three points are the most important thing at the moment”, he added.
Haiti had a good return to the World Cup, despite losing 1-0 to Scott McTominay’s Scotland.
