Ancelotti hails super sub Martinelli after late winner sends Brazil into last 16 of World Cup | OneFootball

Carlo Ancelotti hailed match winner Gabriel Martinelli after the Arsenal man scored in second-half stoppage time to send Brazil into the round of 16.

Brazil had trailed to Japan but completed a second-half comeback, with Casemiro equalising shortly after the restart before Martinelli poked home from close range late on to send Ancelotti’s side into the next round.

“It was mainly to bring a bit of freshness to the field,” Ancelotti explained when asked about bringing on Martinelli.

“Martinelli has a lot of intensity, It’s a very, very important change because when he comes on, he’s always at his best and he helps the team by scoring goals.”

https://static.smartframe.io/embed.js

Ancelotti was pleased with his side’s overall performance against Japan, but insists there is still plenty to work on if his team are to go all the way at this World Cup.

“I think that, so far, this has been our most complete performance,” he said.

“We had more problems in the first half creating chances because Japan was very well organised defensively and closed us down effectively.

“We found the solution in the second half by delivering more crosses and putting more players in the penalty area.

“I think it showed our progression, because while we hadn’t had problems finding space in other matches, we did in this one, and we solved it very well in the second half.

“We should never be satisfied with what we’re doing. We’re doing things well, but when you’re doing things well, if you want to improve, you can’t be satisfied. So we’re not satisfied because we want to improve, because we want to play at a higher level.

“I also really liked today’s performance, but we have to think about the next match.”