Gabriel Martinelli’s late intervention sent belief surging through Brazil once again. Supporters who had demanded Casemiro be withdrawn at the interval, and others who had hoped Neymar rather than Martinelli would be summoned from the bench, were soon raising their hands in admiration for Carlo Ancelotti’s judgment.
The lesson, increasingly, is to trust Don Carlo. That was the message splashed across countless new memes in a country ever more consumed by the endless churn of social media, each one reinforcing the idea that Brazil’s celebrated Italian coach deserves the benefit of the doubt.
Only an hour earlier, many Brazil fans would probably have agreed with Roy Keane and Lee Dixon on ITV, with neither pundit expecting Casemiro to emerge for the second half against Japan on Monday. Dixon described him as “a shadow of his former self, wandering around in midfield.”
Ancelotti, with his trademark restraint, spoke afterwards of progress, referencing the team’s “suffering,” its “evolution” and what he viewed as a “more complete” display. “We were not lost like in the first half against Morocco,” said the 67-year-old Italian.
Across Brazil, many supporters are less concerned with the manner of a World Cup triumph than with ending the wait itself. It echoes Arsenal’s pursuit of the Premier League last season: the drought is becoming harder to bear, and another failure would leave Brazil facing their longest spell without the trophy since Pele burst onto the global stage in Sweden in 1958.
Brazil reached the World Cup last 16 in dramatic style with a 2-1 victory over Japan
Carlo Ancelotti is increasingly winning over Brazil supporters with his shrewd management
For those desperate to see Brazil succeed, the Ancelotti effect is becoming irresistible. They argue his approach is more adventurous than Tite’s, that he is drawing more from his leading players, and that his tactical adjustments during matches are finding new routes to victory.
His decision to replace Matheus Cunha with match-winner Martinelli only reinforced the theory that his experience at the sharp end of European football is the key to making the step up from talented also-rans to winners.
For others, there is something fundamentally not quite right about this Brazil. They do not come with the freedom of expression that makes them Brazil. They are a functional and hard-working team with some exceptional players, but they lack individual flair.
Brazil craves heroes from its football. And the absence of them in the years since Neymar slipped from his peak has been part of a wider disconnection between the team and those fans who expect a sense of adventure more in keeping with the culture and spirit of Jogo Bonito, the beautiful game as represented by Brazil of the Pele era or the Zico era or the 2002 champions with Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho and flying full-backs Cafu and Roberto Carlos.
These are though different times. The game has changed. Traditions have been abandoned in what passes for a pursuit of sporting excellence.
For decades, Brazil has exported its best footballers, although the trend has never been so extreme. Of Ancelotti’s 10 outfield starters against Japan on Monday only Bruno Guimaraes was not playing in Europe by the age of 21. Guimaraes joined Lyon at 22. And, as a rule of thumb, the more prodigious the talent and the further forward they play, the earlier they are snapped up by European clubs.
Ancelotti’s front three, Vinicius Junior, Cunha and Rayan all moved to Europe as teenagers. As did his attacking subs Endrick and Martinelli. As did Rodrygo and Estevao, two brilliant forwards who would have been at this tournament but for injury. Some of them have not kicked a ball in senior football in Brazil.
Back in 1994, Ronaldo was a rarity when he left Cruzeiro for PSV at 17. Years later, when Ronaldinho and Neymar moved to Europe, they were 21. The trend has been accelerated beyond belief. And that must have some sort of impact.
In the same way we wonder where all our maverick players have gone and whether those like Jack Grealish have their natural flamboyance suffocated by the micro-coaching necessary to hold down a place in a top Premier League team, Brazilians must fear the same when they bid farewell to teenage stars crossing the Atlantic to make their millions.
Trading Brazilian footballers is big business – and not often for the benefit of Brazilian football. The bulk of it driven by foreign interest and it makes for a complicated relationship between the Brazilian FA – too weak and unstable to do anything about it – and its clubs.
Quality continues to pour out of Brazil but many move to Europe at a young age and there is no natural heir to Neymar
These are different times for Brazil and Ancelotti’s team are more functional than classic sides
There will always be cycles of talent, but creative quality still pours out of Brazil. Palmeiras have a thriving academy, responsible Endrick and Estevao. Few clubs invest heavily in youth development, however, while more have come to rely on the old stars rebounding from Europe in their 30s and an influx of Portuguese coaches.
Now with an Italian coach in charge of a national team packed with players who have played most of their senior careers in Europe, Brazil has never been more European so how should they reflect the traditions of Brazil?
Besides, who can blame them if it can make them more competitive? Certainly not the English with a German in charge of their team. It is not our place to demand Brazil produce a carefree brand of football to satisfy our romantic notion of the way they should play the game.
Just like England, Brazil are locked into its own desperate quest to win again. Their last five World Cup campaigns have been ended by European opponents. It was France in 2006, the Netherlands in 2010, Germany in 2014, Belgium in 2018 and Croatia in 2022.
Nobody has emerged as Neymar’s heir apparent, which fuelled the pre-tournament sideshow and his surprise selection by Ancelotti. Vini has not quite risen to the same status. There is no figurehead to compare with Lionel Messi in Argentina.
The Europeans meanwhile are turning out players with superstar flair. Brazilians look enviously at France, harnessing the raw talent emerging from poor immigrant communities around Paris as they did the favelas to produce such an exciting range of attackers led by Kylian Mbappe.
Similar could be said of Spain, with Lamine Yamal the latest to follow Messi out of Barcelona. Even London, if you consider Hammersmith-born and raised France international Michael Olise, who has the hallmarks of a classic Brazil No.10.
Perhaps it is significant that none of the above are currently operating in the Premier League, arguably the most stifling and over-coached of the top European leagues. Perhaps not. But for now, all trust has been handed to Ancelotti as Brazil take on Norway, the only country they have played and not beaten in World Cup football.
‘Our team is evolving and that’s what matters most in a World Cup,’ said Romario, hero of 94, in his newspaper column for O Globo. ‘From the second round onwards, there’s no easy way. In a single-elimination match, determination and fighting spirit are fundamental to achieving the objective. From now on, it’s about putting your heart into it, gaining confidence and going after them.’
