Selection wants to define coach until April and keeps Ancelotti as a priority

More than three months after the failure at the World Cup in Qatar, and officially more than two with the position vacant since Tite signed the termination of his contract, the Brazilian team is still looking for a new coach. On Saturday, interim Ramon Menezes will lead Brazil in the friendly against Morocco, in the city of Tanger. And only next month will the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) present an official proposal for the favorites for the post.

The main focus of the entity’s president, Ednaldo Rodrigues, is Carlo Ancelotti, from Real Madrid. The Italian’s name began to be speculated at the end of last year, but it was never confirmed by Ednaldo – neither his nor anyone else’s.

Behind the top hat’s silence is caution, and it is sustained on two fronts. One of them is the concern not to cause any embarrassment with the coach who is in view or with the club in which he is employed. The other is to take precautions in case the negotiation fails.

IS ANCELOTTI FEASIBLE?

Carlo Ancelotti, for example, has one more year on his contract with Real Madrid. The club is about to play in the quarterfinals of the Champions League and, although it is far from the top, it also has a chance of winning the Spanish Championship. Thus, the coach will hardly open negotiations with the CBF before having the current season defined – the Champions League decision is on June 10.

Ednaldo has also already shown concern about not anticipating steps. When Brazil was eliminated from the World Cup, in the quarterfinals against Croatia, the leader returned to Brazil with the delegation and did not speak about Tite’s dismissal until the coach returned from vacation, in mid-January – labor legislation prevents dismissal during the vacation period. Now, before opening negotiations with Ancelotti, the CBF president wants to meet with Real Madrid officials to express his interest.

The same thought applies to another technician who is on the radar: the Portuguese José Mourinho, from Roma. Like Ancelotti, he has a contract until mid-2024 and an exit now would require breaking the agreement.

AT THE END OF THE LIST

Names like French Zinedine Zidane and the spanish Luis Enrique have also been mentioned as possible replacements for Tite. And there are still two other foreigners who have made themselves available to train Brazil: the Portuguese Jorge Jesus, whose contract with Fenerbahçe, from Turkey, should not be renewed; and the German Joachim Löw, the coach who inflicted the 7-1 on the national team in the 2014 World Cup.

None of these four, however, are among the favorites in the CBF. Proof of this is that, with the exception of Jesus, the other three are unemployed and could have already been hired for next weekend’s friendly, which ended up not happening. The Portuguese, in turn, comes from a string of bad results and is no longer the big name he was in 2019, when he was successful at Flamengo.

Among those who work in Brazil, Abel Ferreira and Fernando Diniz are two coaches who had their names associated with the national team, but neither of them occupies the top of the list among the favorites.

TRIP

At the beginning of April, Ednaldo Rodrigues will go to Europe to fulfill a public agenda – to accompany the Finalissima, between the women’s teams of Brazil and England – and another not so much: to try to advance in the signing of Ancelotti and, eventually, visit other clubs besides Real Madrid.

Even if, by then, the Madrid team or any other are still disputing their competitions with title chances, Ednaldo will have time in his favor. That’s because last week FIFA and Conmebol confirmed the start of the South American Qualifiers only for September. Thus, the Fifa June date will be destined only for friendly matches, and playing one or two matches once more with an interim player is no longer a problem.

With the additional three months until the start of qualifying for the World Cup, the CBF will be able to wait for the end of the European season to announce the new coach of the Brazilian national team. Ancelotti is the favourite.