Carlo Ancelotti was announced to be the captain of Selecao at almost the same time as Real Madrid's announcement of the appointment of Xabi Alonso. A few weeks before, Los Blancos fans knew Carletto would no longer lead the team after this season. However, with each day, that time is shortened.
The 65-year-old teacher left the Bernabeu right after the El Clasico last weekend with the result of 3-4. Ancelotti left Real Madrid for the second time in his career, leaving a great heritage, rare coach that could match. In fact, since the beginning of the year, the Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) has seen Ancelotti to replace Dorival Jr. Finally, after firing Dorival, CBF left the hot seat and determined to wait for Ancelotti.
If Real Madrid had been a great success this season, Carletto would not have left the Bernabeu. However, Los Blancos have been left empty-handed this season and an early farewell would be reasonable.
Historically, Brazil is still the most successful team in the world with 5 World Cup titles. However, the last time they were crowned was in 2002, more than 2 decades ago. During that time, Brazilian football still produced a lot of talent but could not reach the World Cup finals once.
The last person to lift the title for Selecao was Felipe Scolari in 2002, a domestic coach. Historically, before sacking Dorival Jr., Brazilian football still worshiped the tradition of using domestic coaches to protect the identity of national football. However, Dorival's poor performance was like a drop in a cup of water, forcing the CBF board to rethink.
Selecao is possessing countless talents, enough to stand in the strongest rankings in the world, but has been playing with difficulty in recent years and has continuously fallen off the field early in tournaments. CBF understands that the level of domestic coaches compared to generals in Europe is a long way off. When they caught the signal with Ancelotti, CBF accelerated all deals to soon get a "Mr. Champions League".
CBF hopes that with his DNA winning the title, Ancelotti can help Selecao quench their thirst next year at the 2026 World Cup in the US. If successful, it is possible that from now on, a wave of foreign coaches will hit Samba. On the contrary, Ancelotti could become a rare experiment and then have to return to the old track with the Selecao.
For his part, Ancelotti has not made an official statement after being announced as the captain of the Brazilian national team. The Italian strategist will have his first match on June 6 against Ecuador in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
