Ancelotti sees Brazil ‘on track’, Danilo in Copa, squad near set | OneFootball

Approaching his tenth match on the sidelines, coach Carlo Ancelotti believes the Brazil National Team is on the right track. Even with limited time in charge, the Italian has already made it clear that he has his starting lineup defined for Brazil’s World Cup debut, which will be against Morocco.

However, that was not all. Ancelotti also admitted that the squad list for the World Cup is virtually set as well. The final squad announcement is scheduled for May 18.

“I think this period here, this year, was very positive, because we qualified. Period. In the matches, we made a lot of evaluations of players I didn’t know, and now we have a very clear idea. I have the lineup pretty much defined for the first game, as well as the final list. We are on the right path; we have had some good games, others a little less so,” said the coach.

“We have to improve, obviously, but we have a very clear idea of what we want to do at the World Cup. We are in a good place, and in this process, I think we will be ready for the first World Cup match. We need calm and composure, because everyone at the CBF and the staff is convinced that we are on the right track, because the work has been good so far,” he added.

Ancelotti confirms Danilo for the World Cup

Ancelotti also revealed one name already guaranteed for the World Cup: Danilo, of Flamengo. The Italian highlighted the player’s versatility and his leadership off the field as key factors in earning a place on the final list.

“Sometimes I get tired of talking about things I’ve already talked about [laughs]. Danilo is an important player, both on and off the field. He is certain to be on the final list of 26 players, because I like him as a player, his character and personality. He can play every position in defense. Among the nine defenders, he will certainly be at the World Cup,” he assured.

Coach wanted to test first-choice team in friendlies

The Brazil National Team had one main objective in the last two friendlies before the final squad announcement: to test the starting team for the World Cup against top European national teams. That, however, did not happen.

Brazil was hit by injuries to players who ended up being cut. Goalkeeper Alisson was one of them, as were center back Gabriel Magalhães, forward Raphinha, and right back Wesley. Faced with those absences, Ancelotti’s alternative was to use the friendlies to test new players, increasing the competition for the final World Cup squad.

“The objective in these two games was to test the starting team. The starting team isn’t here, because we have many injuries, so we took the opportunity to test players who had not been there, such as Léo Pereira, Danilo, Sara. We had good feelings from these players; they increase the competition for the final list, but the idea was not to run tests, it was to try to field the strongest possible starting team. That wasn’t possible because of injuries, so we had to find another way,” he commented.

“We are in the right process, we need calm and composure. Criticism is normal, because I am very clear that the most important thing is the result. But there are more important results and less important ones. For us, the most important result is the one close to the World Cup,” the Italian concluded.

Brazil’s next match

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