Brazil boss Carlo Ancelotti is focusing on the long term and not the immediacy of getting results in international friendlies.
The Selecao face Australia in the second of two games tomorrow, four days after the opener ended in an entertaining 1-1 draw in Townsville.
It could have been a lot worse for Brazil but they were handed a face-saving stalemate thanks to Rayan’s 95th-minute equaliser after Nestory Irankunda’s thrilling free-kick had put the Socceroos in front.
Coming off the back of an underwhelming World Cup, in which Brazil made a round of 16 exit at the hands of Norway, the pressure is on Ancelotti to start producing a winning team but the experienced Italian insists it is more important right now to focus on preparing a strong side for the next Copa America in 2028 and the 2030 World Cup.
Asked if the current criticism bothers him, Ancelotti said: “Criticism has always existed and will always exist. This criticism does not affect the idea I have for the future of this generation, of these players. How much does the criticism affect the ideas I have for the future? In percentage terms… zero.
“The priority now is to build a new generation of footballers who can perform for the national team in the near future, which is the Copa America and the World Cup. That’s the priority. It may be that today the 26 [squad members] are not the best, but we have to do something.”
Ancelotti stressed, however, that that does not mean there is not a focus on performing well now, or getting results.
“No-one, from the coaching staff or the players, think we’re going to play a friendly,” he added. “Let’s play a game that represents a very important country for football, which is Brazil, a shirt that weighs a lot. For us, we don’t have a friendly match. For us, a World Cup match, a match against Australia, is the same. We represent the best team in the history of football.”
The challenge for Australia is to repeat the level of performance they showed at the Queensland Country Bank Stadium last week.
“We are pleased with how we played [in Townsville], [but] disappointed that we conceded so late off a set play,’ Socceroos coach Tony Popovic said.
“The little detail at the end cost us a famous victory, but maybe on Tuesday we can try and put that right.
“It was a very good performance, but we should also look to see what areas we can improve in, and it’s all the little details that make the difference.
“Whether they [Brazil] can lift again and put in a better performance, I feel that we will have to be better than what we were to be able to get a result [on Tuesday], and that’s taking nothing away from what we did.
“We wanted to show that we can compete with such a strong nation and we did compete well.”
Team News for Australia v Brazil
Australia have no injury worries and Popovic is unlikely to make major changes to the team that performed so well last week.
Ancelotti is expected to make several alterations to his XI with Rayan one player set to start at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. The Bournemouth winger could come in for Willian Estevao.
Expected line-ups for Australia v Brazil
Australia: Beach; Circati, Souttar, Herrington; Italiano, Irvine, O’Neill, Behich; McGree, Metcalfe; Irankunda
Brazil: Otavio; Vanderson, Jair Cunha, Gabriel, Mauro Junior; Guimarães, Danilo, Bontempo; Rayan, Vinicius Jr, Raphinha
Stats for Australia v Brazil
- In nine previous meetings Brazil have won six, drawn two and lost one. Australia’s only win was 1-0 at the 2001 Confederations Cup. Brazil have also beaten them 6-0 twice, in 1997 and 2013.
- Raphinha has scored or assisted in 11 straight matches for Brazil, and he set up Friday’s late equaliser.
- Tony Popovic’s side have gone four games without a win (one draw, three defeats) and scored just once in that run. They haven’t scored more than one goal in 11 of their last 13 matches.
- Carlo Ancelotti’s side have lost only one of their last nine matches, but they haven’t kept a clean sheet in six straight friendlies. Both teams have scored in eight of their last 10 games.
Where to watch Australia v Brazil: TV and online streams
Australia versus Brazil kicks off at 11am BST UK time on Tuesday. It is not being shown on TV in the UK.
But you can watch it on the bet365 Live Sports Streaming service.
Prediction for Australia v Brazil
A tough game to call with Brazil set to make so many changes. But you have to feel the visitors’ class should come through.
Prediction: Australia 1-2 Brazil
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: 101greatgoals.com
