Gazzetta dello Sport celebrity author Luigi Garlando has written the title: "An Italian coach will teach football to the Brazilian gods". This is a line that somewhat shows off Carlo Ancelotti's name, but when looking at the positions of both sides at the present time, it makes sense.
Brazil is still the football team that has won the World Cup the most (5 times) but since 2002, they have not even reached the final. Meanwhile, Carlo Ancelotti has built a reputation as one of the greatest coaches in history over that time. He has won the most Champions Leagues (5) and is also the champion of all 5 of Europe's top championships.
It is reasonable for Ancelotti to go to the land of Samba to lead Selecao. A sleeping force needs a captain of sufficient class to revive everyone. In history, Carletto is not the only foreign coach of Selecao, but the long-standing identity of Brazilian football still favours his grandfather. Ancelotti's predecessor as foreign coach was Nelson Ernesto Filpo Nunez (Argentinian nationality, 1965).
The appointment of Ancelotti by the Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) also shows the current trend of the country's football scene. The teams are gradually shifting as they start recruiting foreign coaches instead of local ones to diversify their tactics and improve their team level.
Brazilian clubs have competed in 7/8 of the most recent Copa Libertador finals (a match similar to the European Champions League). In those 7 matches, the Brazilian teams won 4 times and all were led by Portuguese coaches: Jorge Jesus, Abel Ferreira (2) and Artur Jorge.
Looking at this statistic, it can be seen that Portuguese coaches should have been chosen to sit in the hot seat because they are suitable for the current identity of Brazilian football. However, CBF chose Ancelotti, an Italian. For the first time in 60 years, Selecao has a foreign strategist and initially felt that there was no connection to the Samba identity of the team.
Looking at the current Brazil squad, all the famous stars are playing in Europe, many of whom are no longer outstanding for their Samba. They are purely European-standard football machines at the highest level, not many people with pure local identity like Neymar.
For a coach who has won all 5 top European tournaments like Ancelotti, training and correcting both tactics and thinking for this group of players may not be difficult. Thanks to his huge record across Europe, contacting many players from all over the world, Ancelotti is fluent in many languages. Therefore, it will not take him too much time to get used to the new environment.
Especially in the current Brazilian squad, Ancelotti will be reunited with many old students at Real Madrid such as Vinicius Jr, Endrick, Rodrygo, Militao. Not only that, he will work with Raphinha, Barcelona's top bright star this season. There are many other European stars associated with Carletto and this prospect may make him very excited.
In his peak career, Ancelotti has reached the most brilliant club-level honors. He was nicknamed "Mr. Champions League" for his outstanding achievements in the most prestigious arena in the old continent. The Brazilian hopes that as their team is weaker than their European opponents, one who has swept the entire football map of this continent will help them once again touch the world championship title.
