{"id":489586,"date":"2026-06-12T17:07:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T17:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/489586\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T17:07:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T17:07:09","slug":"more-pressure-than-the-president-ancelotti-sets-out-to-end-brazils-world-cup-drought-brazil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/489586\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018More pressure than the president\u2019: Ancelotti sets out to end Brazil\u2019s World Cup drought | Brazil"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is Marcio Santos who best sums up the predicament Brazil\u2019s players found themselves in before the 1994 World Cup<\/a>. \u201cWe hadn\u2019t won in 24 years. That\u2019s way too long for the Brazilian people,\u201d says the former defender in the new Netflix documentary USA 94: Brazil\u2019s Return to Glory.<\/p>\n

Having suffered the ignominy of a first defeat in qualifying that prompted the manager, Carlos Alberto Parreira, to offer to step down, the fabled Rom\u00e1rio and Bebeto strike partnership inspired the Sele\u00e7\u00e3o to win a fourth World Cup the last time the tournament was held on American soil.<\/p>\n

Thirty-two years on, Brazil supporters will be hoping history is about to repeat itself for Carlo Ancelotti\u2019s side as they prepare for the most awkward of opening matches against Morocco<\/a> on Saturday, who became the first African country to reach the last four, in\u00a02022.<\/p>\n

The World Cup\u2019s most successful nation has made it past the quarter-final stage once since Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo sealed a fifth title in 2002. That this is now the joint-longest Brazil<\/a> have gone without winning the World Cup is not the only parallel with 1994. A disastrous qualifying campaign meant they finished a lowly fifth after six defeats \u2013 more than any of the five other South American teams that made it to the World Cup \u2013 and many have written off their\u00a0chances.<\/p>\n

Ancelotti has had mixed success since leaving Real Madrid last year to take his first steps in international management<\/a>. Yet despite criticism of his decision to omit Chelsea\u2019s Jo\u00e3o Pedro and recall 34-year-old Neymar for the first time since 2023, the Italian still has the tools at his disposal to become the third manager to win the World Cup and Champions League, after Marcello Lippi and Vicente del Bosque.<\/p>\n

Neymar is the only surviving squad member from the 7-1 semi-final thrashing<\/a> against Germany in 2014 \u2013 aka the Mineira\u00e7o \u2013 albeit he was forced to watch the nightmare unfold from the sidelines after being injured against Colombia in the previous\u00a0round.<\/p>\n

Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSince Ancelotti\u2019s arrival, the environment has been transformed. He carries a strong presence and gives us the tranquility of an environment focused on work, without controversy,\u201d said the Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a multi-champion. He has won everything in football and is here with joy and enthusiasm. His position\u00a0perhaps has more pressure than being the president of the\u00a0country.\u201d<\/p>\n

If anyone can cope with that it is Ancelotti. But he must find the right balance in attack to build on a defence that should be one of the strongest in the tournament. The partnership between the captain, Marquinhos, and Arsenal\u2019s Gabriel Magalh\u00e3es \u2013 who was immediately consoled by his Brazil teammate after missing the crucial penalty in the Champions League final<\/a> a fortnight ago \u2013 is the foundation of that, even if the full-back positions are more of a concern.<\/p>\n

Gabriel Magalh\u00e3es will be vital at centre-back with Marquinhos against Morocco. Photograph: Caean Couto\/Imagn Images\/Reuters<\/p>\n

A traditional strength \u2013 think Carlos Alberto in 1970, Branca and Jorginho in 1994 and Cafu and Roberto Carlos in 2002 \u2013 now relies on thirtysomethings Douglas Santos, Danilo and Alex Sandro.<\/p>\n

The calf injury Neymar sustained a couple of days after being called up means he is likely to sit out the opening game, with the teenager Endrick vying with Brentford\u2019s Igor Thiago to lead the line. Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior \u2013 who thrived in Madrid under Ancelotti and has been backed to produce his best form at the World Cup \u2013 and Raphinha provide the spark in attack, while a rejuvenated Casemiro will anchor a strong midfield also featuring Newcastle\u2019s Bruno Guimar\u00e3es.<\/p>\n

Brazil have won their group at every World Cup since 1978, when draws against Sweden and Austria meant they finished second after scoring two goals in three matches. They missed out on the final after a controversial 0-0 draw in the second group stage against the eventual winners,\u00a0Argentina.<\/p>\n

It is unlikely Ancelotti will be so pragmatic, but even a draw against Mohamed Ouahbi\u2019s side would not be a disaster with Haiti and Scotland to come.<\/p>\n

The only match to feature two teams ranked inside Fifa\u2019s top 10 certainly makes the first game at the New York New Jersey Stadium \u2013 the 82,500-capacity venue for the final on 19 July \u2013 one of the standout picks of the group stage and there are thousands of supporters from both countries in\u00a0town.<\/p>\n

The New York Knicks will be in action at the same time as they seek the NBA title for the first time since 1973 and a massive police operation that has been planned for 12 months will be in place to prevent any problems.<\/p>\n

Brazil are not used to having to compete for attention at World Cups. But with the group winners on a potential collision course with England, should they top Group L, in the quarter-finals they have an opportunity to show they mean business against Morocco.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is Marcio Santos who best sums up the predicament Brazil\u2019s players found themselves in before the 1994…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-489586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}