Carlo Ancelotti sees beyond Casemiro calamity to spark Brazil bedlam | OneFootball

Whether or not Brazil finish the World Cup with a sixth star, Carlo Ancelotti justified his appointment as the Selecao’s first foreign coach just by holding his nerve to drag them into last 16.

At half-time against Japan in Houston, Brazil had a problem. A few, actually. Chief among them: Casemiro.

On his penultimate day as a Manchester United player, the veteran midfielder had a torrid first period in the face of Japan’s ferociousness. Casemiro was among those at fault for the Blue Samurai goal that had Brazil behind at the break, his misguided decision to engage rather than drop gifting Kaishu Sano the path to Alisson’s net.

It was not an error in isolation. Casemiro had to let man and ball pass when Sano stepped in due to an earlier caution when trying desperately to recover goal side with Brazil out of shape early on. After that, he squandered possession sloppily and, on two occasions, literally ran into his own team-mates.

In stark contrast to his form for United in his final season at Old Trafford, in the first half, this was every bit the kind of performance that prompted Jamie Carragher two years ago to urge Casemiro to ‘leave the football before the football left him’.

When the midfielder made for the changing room, even he must have a feared the half-time hook for the second time this tournament. Brazil badly needed a change, the one obvious to everyone but Ancelotti being Casemiro for, well, it almost didn’t matter.

But Don Carlo knows. We know he knows. That we needed another reminder… that’s on us.

Ancelotti kept faith with Casemiro, not just to regain his composure, form and threat in possession, but trusted him too to shimmy along the disciplinary tightrope. Japan kept Brazil at bay with relative ease when it was an even contest. With a spare man, the side looking to win their first knockout game would likely have made history.

His decision to persist with Casemiro was brave, but Lucas Paqueta may have influenced it.

Paqueta picked up an injury in the final moments of the first half and, evidently, could not continue. Which suited Brazil more than Japan.

Paqueta and Bruno Guimaraes as a pair of 8s ahead of Casemiro had no joy in their search for space between the Japan lines. Japan’s goal came after Danilo’s square pass intended for Guimaraes was read and picked up by Sano, the Mainz machine with more interceptions than anyone in the Bundesliga last term.

Ancelotti’s 8s were static, and with Rayan and Vinicius Jr pulled inside more as their frustration grew, joined by Matheus Cunha dropping deep, Brazil played right into Japan’s hands.

So much so, it seemed Brazil had never seen Japan play prior to today. Rayan admitted he knew none of his opponents by their individual names, and Brazil being Brazil, they appeared to have arrived in Houston expecting their individual flair to overcome Japan’s organisation and graft.

That would have been a criminal oversight even if they had not already faced Japan – and lost – this season.

Thankfully for them, they hired a coach who knows his way around around a tactics board just as well as he understands what makes a player tick.

Endrick replaced Paqueta, giving Brazil more presence on the Japan back five, while Guimaraes dropped in to pair up with Casemiro.

Another striker and Ancelotti’s insistence on more runs beyond the Japan defence – we assume they began on his instruction – pushed the Blue Samurai deeper almost immediately in the second period.

So deep that Japan had three on their goal line plus the goalkeeper to deny Casemiro an equaliser when he looked certain to bury a point-blank header. They never really pushed up much from there when Casemiro tried again, from Gabriel’s cross. The man with more headed goals last season than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues was never going to waste a second opportunity.

Brazil were fixed but not flawless. Japan still created openings on the break but rarely good opportunities. Much of their success in reaching the knockout stage here for the fifth time since they co-hosted in 2002 had come from far-post overloads. And they created a few in the second half, but either the delivery was careless or the decision was wrong.

Most of Japan’s energy, though, was being spent on stopping Brazil from threatening Zion Suzuki, who made a fabulous save when Vinicius Jr danced through an increasingly-fraught defence.

Japan were creaking and finally cracked in the fifth of six scheduled minutes of added time. Ao Tanaka almost simultaneously won and lost possession om the left edge of his own box, into which Guimaraes stepped.

It felt like the Newcastle midfielder’s first foray forward in the second half, perhaps encouraged by the freshness of Fabinho’s legs behind him after the ex-Liverpool star replaced the injured Casemiro moments before.

That’s when Guimaraes showed the composure and quality to pick out Gabriel Martinelli – another Ancelotti introduction – when others would have lashed at goal. In more space and better placed, Martinelli placed his effort to Suzuki’s left. The Japan keeper – a target for Villa and Leeds – again gloved the ball onto the post, but unlike Vini Jr’s effort that came off the face and out, Martinelli’s kissed the inside of the upright on its way in.

Of course, Ancelotti was the calmest man amid the inevitable Brazil bedlam. For a repeat of the coffee-blowing meme he sparked when Everton beat Spurs 5-4 late on in 2021, all he lacked was a cup of joe.

For Ancelotti and Brazil, it’s on to New Jersey next to face Norway or Ivory Coast in the last 16. Without the Italian, Brazil would probably be homeward bound.