Eleven weeks from the World Cup and across Brazil there are parties to plan. There are beers to buy and chill, barbecues to prepare and streets to decorate. The passion for football’s greatest show is still alive inside its most successful nation, but few predict celebrations are sure to follow.
Carlo Ancelotti has not fired the imagination as many hoped he would when he arrived with great fanfare from Real Madrid last summer. His team is shaping up to be hard-working and functional but limited, and Brazilians will tell you their best World Cup sides have always been those packed with creative flair and a dash of the old joga bonito.
Hence the ongoing sideshow raging around Neymar’s omission from a squad bound for the United States to play friendlies against France on Thursday and Croatia on Tuesday.
It has been an awkward period for Brazil since the Qatar World Cup where, for the fourth time in five failed shots at the Hexa – a sixth World Cup win – they went out in the last eight, beaten on penalties by Croatia. The passing of Pele at the age of 82 soon after arch-rivals Argentina had lifted the trophy for a third time seemed to be a calling of time on Brazil’s claim to be the undisputed kings of the World Cup.
It is now 24 years since they last won the trophy, equal to the drought between the last of three Pele-inspired successes in 1970 and the last time the USA were hosts in 1994. This might be construed as a positive omen – and there are others which we will get to soon – and yet there are concerns, especially as the qualification process has hardly been serene.
Under Tite, they qualified with a swagger for Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, topping the South American group on both occasions. In six years, Tite did not lose a qualifier.
Carlo Ancelotti, the manager of Brazil, at the latest squad announcement. The Italian’s record with Brazil is scratchy at best
Ancelotti has refused to bow to public pressure and add Neymar to any of his squads so far
In this latest campaign, Brazil lost six. Argentina ran away at the top of the 10-nation group with Ecuador trailing nine points back in second and four countries a further point adrift. Brazil rolled in fifth behind Colombia and Uruguay but ahead of Paraguay on goal difference.
All six qualified automatically without panic thanks to this expanded version of the World Cup and Bolivia in seventh are in the new intercontinental play-off tournament about to start in Mexico.
So, there was no danger of failing to qualify. And for consolation, the last time Brazil failed to top the South American qualifying table was the last time they won it, in 2002.
On that occasion, a tangle of five head coaches started with Vanderlei Luxemburgo and finished with Luiz Felipe Scolari. Once in Japan and South Korea, Scolari’s team were inspired by the brilliance of Ronaldo’s return after two years of injury hell and Brazil claimed their fifth world title.
This spluttering campaign has been overseen by four different bosses. Ramon Menezes replaced Tite for three months after Qatar before handing on to Fernando Diniz, also in an interim capacity, for six more months.
They had been trying to tempt Ancelotti, but when the Italian resisted the initial approach, Dorival Junior took over for 15 months until Brazil could prise their man out of Real Madrid.
It is now 32 years since Ronaldao (left), Romario (centre) and Dunga led Brazil to victory in the last World Cup on US soil
None of the managers boast a particularly good record. Ancelotti has won four of eight and drew with Tunisia in November a month after losing to Japan.
But another good omen is that Brazil had a sloppy qualifying campaign in 1994, when they won only one of their first four qualifiers and everything hinged on their final game against Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro.
Defeat would have seen Brazil eliminated but Romario scored twice to clinch a 2-0 win and went on to cement his legendary status with five more goals as they won the World Cup in the United States.
The search for another saviour has drawn eyes towards Neymar, who has certainly not set Brazilian football alight since returning to his first club Santos from Saudi Arabia last year. His 34 years and subdued form have not stopped a clamour for a recall though.
Neymar is Brazil’s record goalscorer with 79 goals from 128 appearances and some believe he can conjure magic like Romario in 1994 and Ronaldo in 2002.
Last week, one of Neymar’s friends, an actor called Rafael Zulu, published an open letter to Ancelotti on social media to say: ‘Disney without Mickey doesn’t exist you know!? Get your act together. Football lovers will agree with me.’ Romario, too, spoke up in support of Neymar.
Neymar (right) and Vinicius Junior process elimination from the 2022 Qatar World Cup
Neymar missed a Santos game against Mirassol earlier this month, when Ancelotti was in attendance to check on him
Ancelotti has remained unmoved. In five squads, he is yet to pick the former Barcelona star. He explained at the latest squad announcement that he would consider him if he was in peak fitness but Neymar always seemed to be carrying injuries.
He missed a game against Mirassol earlier this month where Ancelotti was in attendance specifically to check on him, having received what he thought were assurances about his participation. That did not sit well with the Brazil boss or the Brazilian FA (CBF). Neymar started the next two Santos games but was missing against Cruzeiro on Sunday.
His absence was explained by Santos as ‘load management’. Then came a report claiming Neymar had spent the day playing online poker for 16 hours, followed by a video message from the player to his 234 million Instagram followers to promote PokerStars, one of his sponsors. ‘I had some time to do what I enjoy most outside of football, which is playing a little poker,’ said Neymar.
This, again, did not go down well with the Brazil boss or the CBF, who had been embroiled in a tense exchange with Neymar after his birthday in February. After making it clear he was upset not to receive their formal congratulations on completing his 34th year, the CBF responded to say their policy was to congratulate ‘world champions’. Neymar unfollowed the CBF on Instagram.
On the same day, the CBF announced a new partnership with Uber, which prompted criticism from fans, and Gil Cebola, one of Neymar’s closest friends, declared he would now travel with a rival company called 99. There were reports that CBF president Samir Xaud had grown close to Neymar while trying to repair the damaged relationship but not close enough to guarantee a place in the squad.
Ancelotti, meanwhile, is determined to impose his authority on the squad. His World Cup plans are taking shape, with much of his team for the opener against Morocco on June 13 already in place.
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson is expected to start behind a back four of Eder Militao of Real Madrid, Marquinhos of Paris Saint-Germain, Gabriel Magalhaes of Arsenal and a left back, probably Douglas Santos of Zenit.
Casemiro of Manchester United and Bruno Guimaraes of Newcastle are expected to feature in a three-man midfield with one other. Up front, Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid and Raphinha of Barcelona look set to flank Matheus Cunha of United, who is tipped to wear the iconic No 10 shirt if Neymar fails to make the squad.
Real’s Rodrygo is out with a serious knee injury and, in Brazil, the idea of Cunha in the shirt graced at World Cups by Pele, Zico, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka and Neymar is proof of a poor vintage.
Manchester United’s Matheus Cunha could be handed the iconic Brazil No 10 shirt of Pele, Zico and Ronaldinho
United’s Casemiro is likely to anchor the Brazil midfield – another sign of a functional side but not one packed with flair
Yet it is still a very good team with unquestionable strength in depth and a flavour of the Premier League. Joao Pedro, Andrey Santos and Estevao Willian of Chelsea and Gabriel Martinelli of Arsenal are all in the picture.
Ancelotti’s assistant, Paul Clement, can often be spotted on scouting missions. Rayan, the exciting teenager signed by Bournemouth in January, and Igor Thiago, Brentford’s 19-goal centre forward, have been called up for the first time.
Only a few months ago, a Thiago call-up was still something of a joke. Fans compared him to Afonso Alves or Grafite, others picked on the strength of goals scored at unfashionable clubs but who never seemed at home in a Brazil shirt. Now he is second only to Erling Haaland in the Premier League goal charts, and has Gabriel Jesus, Richarlison and Igor Jesus sweating on their World Cup places.
‘Few national teams have as much talent as ours,’ Endrick, the Real Madrid striker on loan at Lyon, tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘And none has a more successful coach than ours.
‘At Real Madrid, Ancelotti also had a kind of national team, with players from many countries, and he won. He has won league titles and cups everywhere he has been. It won’t be any different with Brazil. He will prepare the team to be champions. He will get the best out of each player. That’s what makes him different. He finds the best way to use each player.’
Ancelotti’s ability to absorb the pressure and ride the demands from all angles without losing his way is arguably his greatest skill. Can he transfer it to the global stage? Can he restore Brazil’s faith? Can he end that wait for the Hexa?
