Why Ancelotti has handed Fabinho another chance with the Brazil squad | OneFootball

One of the highlights of Carlo Ancelotti's call-up for the penultimate FIFA date before the 2026 World Cup was the midfielder Fabinho. The Al-Ittihad player from Saudi Arabia had not been called to defend the Brazilian National Team since December 2022, but he received a new chance.

In a press conference, Ancelotti explained the decision to call up Fabinho. He believes that the former Liverpool midfielder has characteristics similar to Casemiro and could replace him in the event of the starter's absence. The Italian does not see other midfielders with this profile in the current group.

“This is the reality. I want to find a profile similar to Casemiro. We have good midfielders, but with different profiles compared to Casemiro. Fabinho has these characteristics, knowledge of the position, and experience. He is a player who is playing, has been at a very high level in Europe,” justified the coach.

Present at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Fabinho stopped appearing in the Brazilian National Team's call-ups after the World Cup. In the current season, he has scored one goal and provided two assists in 12 matches played for Al-Ittihad.

(Photo: Al-Ittihad/Disclosure)

More Highlights

Another highlight on the list is the left-back Luciano Juba from Bahia. Ancelotti praised the technical ability of the 26-year-old player and wants to observe him closely.

“He is a player with a very important technical profile. He provided a very good assist for Bahia's goal. A player who can play inside and as a left-back, he is doing very well at Bahia. It's an evaluation we make, as we did with Douglas Santos and Caio Henrique. I believe he [Juba] deserves that we make an evaluation of him,” stated the Italian.

The left-back position is one of the most uncertain positions in the Brazilian National Team. Ancelotti plans to conduct tests in this position precisely to avoid making the wrong decision in the final list for the World Cup.

“We conduct tests to avoid mistakes in the final list. I think in this last call-up we found a good left-back, whom we didn't know much about, Douglas Santos. We conduct tests to avoid problems in the definitive list. I want to get to know the players and the people up close,” he commented.

National Team Schedule

The presentation of the 26 called-up players is scheduled for the 10th, in London, where the delegation will stay until Sunday, the 16th, after the match against Senegal. The team will train in England and travel to Lille in the afternoon. Thus, the group will have only one training session on French soil before the game against Tunisia on the 18th.

Upcoming National Team Matches

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.