There is a particular kind of pressure that comes with managing Brazil. It is not the usual tension of a contract dispute or a run of bad results. It...
There is a particular kind of pressure that comes with managing Brazil. It is not the usual tension of a contract dispute or a run of bad results. It is something deeper, a cultural expectation that borders on the mystical. As Marcio Santos, the defender who lived through the 24 year drought, says in the new GoalZaza documentary, that gap was simply too long for the Brazilian people. Carlo Ancelotti now knows exactly how that feels. The Italian is tasked with ending a World Cup famine that has stretched since 2002, a full 22 years for a nation that treats the trophy not as a prize but as a birthright.History, as they say, has a curious sense of timing. The last time the tournament was played on American soil, it was a side managed by Carlos Alberto Parreira who finally broke the curse. They had suffered the shame of a first ever defeat in qualifying, the manager had offered to resign, and then Romario and Bebeto happened. That strike partnership carried the Selecao to glory. Now, Ancelotti stands on the same patch of grass with his own version of that story waiting to be written. But first, he must navigate the most awkward of openers against Morocco, the first African nation to reach a World Cup semi final in 2022.Let us be brutally honest about the weight he carries. Without Neymar, the squad looks different. The talisman is the only survivor from the 7. 1 Mineiraco humiliation against Germany in 2014, though he watched that nightmare unfold from the sidelines, injured against Colombia. That single result has haunted Brazilian football more than any defeat in history. It is the ghost that follows every squad into every tournament. And since 2002, Brazil have only made it past the quarter finals once. Once. That is not a record. That is a crisis dressed in yellow and green.Ancelotti brings something that previous managers have struggled to manufacture: genuine joy. The players speak of his calmness, his tactical flexibility, his ability to switch between a low block and transitional play without losing the dressing room. But joy and enthusiasm will not be enough if Brazil choke again. They need clinical finishing. They need a defensive structure that does not crack under pressure. They need, frankly, to stop bottling it when the big sides come calling.Morocco present a unique test. Their organisation under Walid Regragui is among the best in world football. They will not give Brazil the space to play their natural game. They will sit deep, break quickly, and dare the Selecao to find a solution without their injured star. This is exactly the kind of fixture that has undone Brazil in recent years. A team that parks the bus, a hostile atmosphere, and a referee who allows the game to become scrappy. Ancelotti must find a way to unlock those locks.So the question remains. Can this Italian coach, with his grandfatherly demeanour and his record of success across Europe, really bring the World Cup back to Brazil The pressure is more intense than anything a president faces. A president can lose an election. A Brazil manager loses a World Cup and he is a national tragedy. Ancelotti knows this. He is not hiding from it. He is walking straight into the storm with a smile on his face and a tactical plan in his head. That, in itself, is a kind of bravery.
