Ancelotti: ‘We can compete with the best teams in the world’ | OneFootball

Coach Carlo Ancelotti said there were many positives in Thursday’s (26) friendly, in which the Brazilian National Team lost 2-1 to France in Boston. He regretted the result, but stressed that the score itself was not the most important aspect of the match. He highlighted that Brazil will go to the World Cup in a position to compete with the other giants on the world stage.

“When you lose a game, you should never be happy; we are not happy. The result is not the most important thing, but the result tells us what we did well and what we did not do well. I think the team competed until the end of the match and had some good chances. We were lacking a bit in playing out from the back in our own half, and we also lacked a bit of awareness to prevent the counterattack from which they scored both goals. In the overall context of the match, I am satisfied, because the team competed, fought, and scored from a set piece, which is important. Half satisfied, but we should not be happy with the result.”

Ancelotti said Brazil’s potential will show itself at the World Cup and that this will level the contest against other top teams favored to win the title.

“Today’s game makes it very clear to me: we can compete with the best teams in the world. I have no doubt about that. Looking at today’s match, we played against a very strong team, with a lot of quality, and we competed until the last minute trying to win. I am convinced that we will fight for the World Cup with all our energy.”

The coach recalled that Brazil was missing several players, with a number of debutants or players with little experience for the national team, and that this weighed on the match, although he praised those athletes.

“It was a very young team, with players who are not used to playing together. Defensively, Bremer and Léo played very well. On the ball, we need to combine better, we have to work on our buildup, but we also have to consider that we had counterattacking opportunities, especially in the second half, when the substitutions came on and brought energy to the field,” he said.

Asked at the press conference, still at the stadium, whether he would leave with more certainties or doubts about the final World Cup squad list, he did not hesitate in his answer.

“More certainties. I think the progress of the new players who played today for the first time was very good, very positive. Igor Thiago came on very well, Danilo (Santos) came on very well, Gabriel Sara played his role, as did Ibañez. After this game I am much more confident. I think choosing the final squad list will not be so easy for me.”

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