So this was what Brazil hired Carlo Ancelotti to bring. The Italian won the Champions League three times with Real Madrid. Each brought a crucial injury-time goal in either the semi-final or the final; at times more than one.
And so, as Bruno Guimaraes pierced the ****** an defence and Gabriel Martinelli angled a 95th-minute shot into the far corner of the net, the manager with the lowest heart rate in football had seen it all before.
Ancelotti can be the king of cool, the man who does not panic. His capacity for calm thinking in pressurised situations nevertheless contributed to a comeback that extends Brazil’s hope of gaining a sixth star on their shirts. Two of his changes had a catalytic effect: first introducing Endrick for Lucas Paqueta at half-time, giving Brazil a greater attacking threat, and then summoning Martinelli to replace Matheus Cunha.
At half-time, when ****** an deservedly led in Houston, the danger was that this was remembered as Brazil’s worst World Cup. They have reached the last 16, or equivalent, in every tournament, the knockouts in all bar 1930 and 1966, the final eight on each occasion after 1990. Ancelotti can be the history-maker in cup competitions, but in the right way. He may be again.
His demeanour suggests he is so laidback that he is almost horizontal. Dressed in a three-piece suit, Ancelotti looked more like a dapper expert in antiques than a football coach. Yet part of his success lies in an ability to galvanise players decades his junior and with very different characters. Brazil emerged inspired after half-time. Their next quarter of an hour bore comparison with England’s 15-minute surge against Croatia. A managerial team talk led to a battering. And if Brazil then seemed to lose their momentum in the second half’s hydration break, they showed they have acquired the capacity for late drama that many another Ancelotti side has had.
And so, as Bruno Guimaraes pierced the ****** an defence and Gabriel Martinelli angled a 95th-minute shot into the far corner of the net, the manager with the lowest heart rate in football had seen it all before.
Ancelotti can be the king of cool, the man who does not panic. His capacity for calm thinking in pressurised situations nevertheless contributed to a comeback that extends Brazil’s hope of gaining a sixth star on their shirts. Two of his changes had a catalytic effect: first introducing Endrick for Lucas Paqueta at half-time, giving Brazil a greater attacking threat, and then summoning Martinelli to replace Matheus Cunha.
At half-time, when ****** an deservedly led in Houston, the danger was that this was remembered as Brazil’s worst World Cup. They have reached the last 16, or equivalent, in every tournament, the knockouts in all bar 1930 and 1966, the final eight on each occasion after 1990. Ancelotti can be the history-maker in cup competitions, but in the right way. He may be again.
His demeanour suggests he is so laidback that he is almost horizontal. Dressed in a three-piece suit, Ancelotti looked more like a dapper expert in antiques than a football coach. Yet part of his success lies in an ability to galvanise players decades his junior and with very different characters. Brazil emerged inspired after half-time. Their next quarter of an hour bore comparison with England’s 15-minute surge against Croatia. A managerial team talk led to a battering. And if Brazil then seemed to lose their momentum in the second half’s hydration break, they showed they have acquired the capacity for late drama that many another Ancelotti side has had.
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