RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) \u2014 Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti is still recovering from his team\u2019s round-of-16 loss to Norway in the World Cup.<\/p>\n
But as the 67-year-old Italian turns to the next four years on the job, he pledges to closely watch youth division players and the country\u2019s squad at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to spearhead an overhaul.<\/p>\n
Ancelotti also said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press at the headquarters of the Brazilian soccer confederation in Rio de Janeiro that the five-time World Cup winners don\u2019t need to copy defending champion Spain or high-powered France to win a sixth.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t need to copy \u2014 we need to learn where we can improve,\u201d Ancelotti said in the confederation\u2019s museum, where much of Brazil\u2019s national team silverware is kept. \u201cSome positions are well-covered, both in defense and attack. We are looking for improvement and development among the midfielders. And the Olympics could be a crucial moment (to find players).\u201d<\/p>\n
Ancelotti, who returned to Brazil on Sunday, has heard a lot about the Tokyo Olympics gold medal match since he arrived. Five years ago, Brazil beat Spain 2-1 to defend its title. Eight of the Spanish players in that game plus coach Luis de La Fuente and are now World Cup winners, but Brazil only took midfielder Bruno Guimaraes and striker Matheus Cunha to the 2026 World Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are in contact with the U-15, U-17, and U-20 coaches to identify talent and track their progress, ensuring they are prepared for the next World Cup,\u201d Ancelotti said. \u201cFour years ago, Rayan was playing U-17. It is vital to look at youth development now so that by 2030 we have another generation of players progressing like him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many Brazil fans might not be that patient; they often expect stars to deliver and players to have leading roles wherever they play. But Ancelotti says the set up he plans is different from that.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this moment, football doesn\u2019t need one single star \u2014 we need to reinforce the concept of the team,\u201d the coach said. \u201cBrazil doesn\u2019t have a single reference point right now, and it doesn\u2019t need one. We have many great players. The goal is to build a strong, cohesive team.\u201d<\/p>\n
New path for Brazil begins in September<\/p>\n
Three friendlies, two against Australia in September and one against India in October, will mark the beginning of the new cycle for Brazil\u2019s first-ever fulltime foreign coach. He knows pressure will be on until the 2028 edition of Copa America. Ancelotti says a combination of players that make it to the continental tournament and those younger going to Los Angeles could make the 2030 World Cup roster.<\/p>\n
Striker Neymar, who made Ancelotti\u2019s squad for this summer\u2019s tournament despite serious doubts about his fitness, is not in coach\u2019s plans going forward. The 34-year-old star repeated earlier this week that he thought his time with the national team was over.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s part of the natural trajectory of a great talent like Neymar,\u201d Ancelotti said. \u201cIt is like it is for others who finish an important time with the national team. We spent little time together, but I have only good things to say. He was serious, professional, he helped in whichever way he could. Too bad he had this injury that did not allow him to be 100% since the first game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ancelotti said his decision to coach Brazil until 2030 and reject an offer from the Italian soccer federation to take the same job in the same national team he played for \u201chas nothing to do with contracts, it has to do with commitment.\u201d Italy soccer executives said Brazil\u2019s coach was in considerations for the position, which ultimately went \u2014 once again \u2014 to Roberto Mancini.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Brazilian soccer confederation has always supported me, especially after the defeat against Norway,\u201d the coach said in his ever-improving Portuguese, which he has learned from a teacher and also a language app. \u201cThe commitment I have is because of the reception I had here this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ancelotti has the experience of losing a World Cup final with Italy \u2014 to Brazil \u2014 in a penalty shootout in 1994, when he was an assistant coach for the Azzurri. But he says this one hurts more, though it also opens his perspective for 2030.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a tough time to digest this defeat. I was used to defeats at clubs because you can seek payback quickly. Now I have to wait. Sometimes I think about the defeat more than usual,\u201d Ancelotti said. \u201cYou have to have the strength to have an eye in the past and another one in the future. Each day that goes by I am thinking more about the future than the past.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP soccer: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer<\/p>\n
Mauricio Savarese, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) \u2014 Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti is still recovering from his team\u2019s round-of-16 loss to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":835073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-835072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=835072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/835073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=835072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=835072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=835072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}