'I changed it because...' - Ancelotti makes Estevao admission after Brazil's draw with Tunisia | OneFootball

Carlo Ancelotti has explained his decision not to let Chelsea star Estevao take a second penalty in Brazil's 1-1 friendly draw with Tunisia.

Brazil's last match for 2025 ended with a draw with Tunisia in Lille, France.

Tunisia took the early lead through Hazem Mastouri before Estevao levelled the score from the penalty spot a few minutes before half-time.

Brazil could have ended the year on a positive note if they had capitalised on their second penalty in the second half, but West Ham's Lucas Paqueta could not convert.

Estevao admitted he would have liked to take the second penalty, too, having convincingly scored the first with a powerful strike, but Ancelotti decided against it.

IMAGO / MAXPPP

"It was an order," Estevao told SporTV, as quoted by ESPN Brasil, when asked why he did not take the second penalty.

"I supported my teammate so he could score the goal. Unfortunately, he missed, but we must keep our heads up, train hard, and improve because in a World Cup, we have to take advantage of these opportunities.

"I really wanted to take the shot, but the order came, I trusted my teammate, it wasn't meant to be this time, but now we have to work hard to achieve our goal."

In fairness, Paqueta is a very capable penalty taker as well, having missed just once and scored 10 before this.

IMAGO / MAXPPP

That said, Ancelotti made it clear that his decision was partly to avoid too much pressure on Estevao.

"Paquetá was the penalty taker," the Italian explained after the game.

"On the second penalty, I changed it because I thought I'd take some of the pressure off Estevao, so I put Paquetá on, who usually takes them very well."

If anyone knew anything about man-management in football, it would be Ancelotti. So while the decision did not pay off, it would still be unfair to question it.

Had Estevao taken the second penalty and missed it, there could have been a lot of unnecessary negative headlines about it, and it could have affected the teenager mentally.

Estevao, alongside Joao Pedro and Andrey Santos, will return to Chelsea after a relatively positive international break to prepare for Saturday's trip to Burnley for a Premier League clash.

Joao Pedro and Santos did not feature against Tunisia on Tuesday, so they should be fresh for the upcoming match.