CBF closes deal to have Ancelotti in the national team – 06/19/2023 – Sport

To all negative statements by Carlo Ancelotti, 64, Ednaldo Rodrigues reacted with indifference. In contacts with the Italian, he had already received signals that he would accept being the first foreigner to direct, definitively, the Brazilian team.

The CBF has a verbal agreement with the four-time Champions League champion coach for him to take over the national team in June 2024, when his contract with Real Madrid-ESP ends.

The news was initially given by GloboEsporte.com.

Leaders linked to Ednaldo say that he himself recognizes that it is not the ideal scenario. But having Ancelotti in 2024 would be better, in his view, than choosing a Brazilian who would not be unanimous.

From the moment it became clear that it was impossible to remove Guardiola from Manchester City, Rodrigues set Ancelotti as his target. This happened earlier this year.

Despite several attempts to get him to leave the Spanish team now, the Italian has refused to do so. Real Madrid also said they would not release him.

The president held the talks in his own style: discreetly. For the CBF, the names of Abel Ferreira and Jorge Jesus were more attempts by businessmen to plant names in the selection than the real interest of Rodrigues who, from the beginning, had decided: it would be a personal choice. Without listening to anyone.

To aides who protested and said he could hear from others on the matter, he replied that he would choose alone. If other presidents had done the same in the past, why not him?

Rodrigues patiently waited for that moment and kept Tite in charge until the end of the Qatar Cup, a coach he was not in love with. But he asked that nobody from the CBF interfere in the work of the coaching staff. Any request from the then commander should be met so that later, in case of defeat, the top hat would not be seen as a villain.

Rodrigues wanted a name for a coach that would mark his administration and be able to manage the cauldron of egos that can be the selection. Ancelotti having already worked with dozens of players in the country and having been champions with them makes him an ideal candidate, imagines the president. He would also have the fame, curriculum and authority to impose himself on the athletes.

Rodrigues didn’t attach much importance to the fact that the new coach would take over after six of the 18 rounds played in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. He doesn’t see it as a big problem because he doesn’t consider qualifying difficult. Of the ten selections, six will go to the World Cup. The seventh will compete in the repechage.

The open question is what will be Ancelotti’s role until he takes office definitively. The main team should be commanded by Ramon Menezes, who has held the position on an interim basis since the beginning of 2023. It is possible that he has another professional by his side. It is not clear if the Italian will have any role in this command, even if at a distance and informally.

The Brazilian team has had, in the past, three foreign coaches. But all were called for a short period.

The Uruguayan Ramón Platero was responsible for summoning and directing the team in the 1925 South American Championship. The Portuguese Jorges Gomes de Lima, Joreca, led the team in two friendlies against Uruguay, in 1944. The Argentine-born Brazilian Filpo Nuñez was coach do Palmeiras who represented Brazil, in 1965, in a friendly against Uruguay. The match was part of the Mineirão opening party.

Midfielder revealed by Roma, Ancelotti made history as a member of Milan that had the trio of Dutchmen: Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard. He twice won the Italian league in 1988 and 1992 and the Champions League in 1989 and 1990. He had already been national champion with Roma in 1983.

As a coach, he is Italian (Milan), English (Chelsea), Spanish (Real Madrid), German (Bayern Munich) and French (PSG) champions. He also won the main European tournament with Milan (2003 and 2007) and Real Madrid (2014 and 2022).