The 111th year in the history of the Brazilian men's football team has seen the appearance of the fourth foreign coach, Carlo Ancelotti. Brazil does not close the heart to foreign coaches but they do not do it often.
Before Ancelotti, there were coaches from Uruguay (Ramon Platero), Portugal (Joreca) and Argentina (Filipo Nunez) leading the Selecao - although the time was not too long. Carletto arrived at a special time, when Selecao lost their province, struggling between tradition and modernity.
Speaking of Italy and Brazil, the modern football world immediately remembered the 1994 World Cup final - 3 years after Ancelotti left the team, as if to express the contrast in style, even at that time, the yellow-blue team from South America was not highly appreciated for its aesthetics in playing style. So it is not surprising with questions such as whether a person from a football background full of steel like Italy can succeed in a place that when mentioned is associated with the enchantment, the charm of technique, passion?
In fact, Ancelotti is not a typical representative of the so-called "catenaccio". He has never loved football as a defensive battle to the point of absolute defense. On the contrary, throughout his career, the 65-year-old coach has always found a way to balance - the art he learned from his time as a decent midfielder for AC Milan. Moreover, he has been working with many Brazilian players to know and understand them, in which Kaka, one of his former students, is part of his coaching staff.
One can see the irony in the perspective of Brazil choosing an Italian to find the football that they have inspired the world. But if we understand Ancelotti, this is not unreasonable. He does not need to "defend negatively" to rebuild Brazil. Just bring quietness, stability and organization to the legs that always know how to dance. Carletto understands the simple: Beauty does not need to be ostentatious, and sometimes a defensive player who knows where to stand is more seductive than the Samba dance.
Brazil, after all, needs someone who can breathe in the same breath as the past, but is also calm enough to look forward to the future without doubting himself.
