Carlo Ancelotti and Brazil are a perfect fit but it may not solve their biggest issue | OneFootball

What do you get a man who has completed club football? The answer, perhaps, is the opportunity to add the international crown that could give him a claim to be the greatest ever.

For Carlo Ancelotti’s coaching career may have come full circle. As the most decorated veteran in the business, as when he was a rookie, he is in the United States for a World Cup. Ancelotti got a medal in 1994, but the silver of a runner-up, rather than the gold he came to accumulate in the next three decades. He was by Arrigo Sacchi’s side then, assistant manager to one of his mentors. Sacchi, one of the most influential managers ever, reached a World Cup final and lost to Brazil. So did Nils Liedholm, the avuncular Swede who, in the long term, may have proved the greater influence on Ancelotti. Liedholm captained Sweden in the 1958 final when Brazil won their first World Cup.

Now Ancelotti is charged with securing the sixth. The World Cup was the prize that eluded the guarantee of winning the Champions League. Italy were champions in 1982, but a knee injury meant Ancelotti was not in Enzo Bearzot’s squad. He was in the group but not the team in 1986, again impeded by injury. He was on the bench for the semi-final defeat in 1990, but as an unused substitute, rather than the coach he became for the following tournament.

And then came a club managerial career of unprecedented success. The only manager to win the title in each of Europe’s five main domestic leagues became the only one to win five Champions Leagues. It was the European competition that cemented his legend. Ancelotti, arguably, is a better manager in knockout competitions than over a 38-game league campaign; it was one reason for Brazil to make him their first foreign manager in six decades.

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Ancelotti, the Champions League’s most successful manager, has turned to international football and the allure of the World Cup (Getty)

Another was the great cosmopolitan’s affinity with the Selecao stars. As an impressionable 11-year-old, Ancelotti wanted Italy to win the 1970 final. Watching Pele, Jairzinho, Gerson, Roberto Rivelino and Carlos Alberto was, he told World Soccer, “the first time I realised how much talent Brazil has”.

He has managed many of their most gifted players of the 21st century: Kaka, Cafu, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Ronaldo with AC Milan, David Luiz and Ramires with Chelsea, Thiago Silva for Paris Saint-Germain, Marcelo, Casemiro, Eder Militao, Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior for Real Madrid. Wherever Ancelotti has been, from Parma to Everton, there have been Brazilians.

Perhaps it meant that, long before many another realised it, Ancelotti was the best-qualified non-Brazilian to manage Brazil. He entered the job with a body of work to support his case. Vinicius came second in the Ballon d’Or due to his form under Ancelotti, rather than for his country. Rodrygo, too, had delivered more for the Italian than his compatriots, though injury means he will miss the World Cup. Perhaps it was unsurprising that one of Ancelotti’s first decisions was to bring Casemiro out of international exile.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given Ancelotti’s vast experience, there is a seasoned feel to this squad, with 11 thirty-somethings. Even one of the two teenagers is part of another Ancelotti reunion: Endrick joined Real for Ancelotti’s final year and was then marginalised by Xabi Alonso after his departure.

But age is a reason to doubt Brazil’s credentials. So, too, are the deficiencies in the squad. Ancelotti noted a lack of balance in the 4-1 defeat to Argentina, before his arrival; now he has to determine if he can play with four attackers or if he needs to bolster his midfield. Ancelotti could do with a modern Cafu or Marcelo, with Brazil’s struggling to maintain their tradition of glorious buccaneering full-backs. There seems no real successor to Ronaldo, as a potent No 9.

Instead, the attacking impetus may have to come from the flanks. The absences of Rodrygo and Estevao Willian may have facilitated Neymar’s return, almost three years after his last cap. His selection may be a sign that Ancelotti, the master man-manager, has confidence in his ability to handle the man who remains Brazil’s biggest star, though far from their best player.

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Neymar have not be fit for Brazil’s opening game against Morocco (Reuters)

And it shows Ancelotti’s evolution. He was the Sacchi disciple who became the anti-Sacchi; he was defined by tactical rigidity and then started to shape his side to suit his players. Ancelotti can feel the ego-free Godfather of management.

One of his former charges, a Brazilian, once asked Ancelotti if he used to be a footballer himself. A double European Cup winner with AC Milan was not offended. The player in question did not make the World Cup squad but Don Carlo, despite the nickname, has rarely dealt in revenge. He has reacted to the slings and arrows of football’s outrageous fortune with nothing more than a raised eyebrow.

Which formed part of his appeal. Ancelotti has long seemed the manager with a sense of perspective. He appeared to have an exit strategy, one that would have taken him to North America anyway. His wife lives in Vancouver, often cited as one of the world’s most desirable places to live, but not the most convenient for someone who had worked in Madrid.

But Ancelotti signed a contract extension to keep him with Brazil until 2030, and past his 70th birthday. See his deal through and he will have another World Cup. The nearly man of 1994 may yet get his hands on the trophy.