Carlo Ancelotti tells AP that 2028 Olympics important for Brazil's next World Cup team

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti is still recovering from his team's round-of-16 loss to Norway in the World Cup.

But as the 67-year-old Italian turns to the next four years on the job, he pledges to closely watch youth division players and the country's squad at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to spearhead an overhaul.

Advertisement

Ancelotti also said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press at the headquarters of the Brazilian soccer confederation in Rio de Janeiro that the five-time World Cup winners don't need to copy defending champion Spain or high-powered France to win a sixth.

"We don't need to copy — we need to learn where we can improve," Ancelotti said in the confederation's museum, where much of Brazil's national team silverware is kept. "Some positions are well-covered, both in defense and attack. We are looking for improvement and development among the midfielders. And the Olympics could be a crucial moment (to find players)."

Ancelotti, who returned to Brazil on Sunday, has heard a lot about the Tokyo Olympics gold medal match since he arrived. Five years ago, Brazil beat Spain 2-1 to defend its title. Eight of the Spanish players in that game plus coach Luis de La Fuente and are now World Cup winners, but Brazil only took midfielder Bruno Guimaraes and striker Matheus Cunha to the 2026 World Cup.

"We are in contact with the U-15, U-17, and U-20 coaches to identify talent and track their progress, ensuring they are prepared for the next World Cup," Ancelotti said. "Four years ago, Rayan was playing U-17. It is vital to look at youth development now so that by 2030 we have another generation of players progressing like him."

Advertisement

Many Brazil fans might not be that patient; they often expect stars to deliver and players to have leading roles wherever they play. But Ancelotti says the set up he plans is different from that.

"At this moment, football doesn't need one single star — we need to reinforce the concept of the team," the coach said. "Brazil doesn't have a single reference point right now, and it doesn't need one. We have many great players. The goal is to build a strong, cohesive team."

New path for Brazil begins in September

Three friendlies, two against Australia in September and one against India in October, will mark the beginning of the new cycle for Brazil's first-ever fulltime foreign coach. He knows pressure will be on until the 2028 edition of Copa America. Ancelotti says a combination of players that make it to the continental tournament and those younger going to Los Angeles could make the 2030 World Cup roster.

Advertisement

Striker Neymar, who made Ancelotti's squad for this summer's tournament despite serious doubts about his fitness, is not in coach's plans going forward. The 34-year-old star repeated earlier this week that he thought his time with the national team was over.

"That's part of the natural trajectory of a great talent like Neymar," Ancelotti said. "It is like it is for others who finish an important time with the national team. We spent little time together, but I have only good things to say. He was serious, professional, he helped in whichever way he could. Too bad he had this injury that did not allow him to be 100% since the first game."

Ancelotti said his decision to coach Brazil until 2030 and reject an offer from the Italian soccer federation to take the same job in the same national team he played for "has nothing to do with contracts, it has to do with commitment." Italy soccer executives said Brazil's coach was in considerations for the position, which ultimately went — once again — to Roberto Mancini.

"The Brazilian soccer confederation has always supported me, especially after the defeat against Norway," the coach said in his ever-improving Portuguese, which he has learned from a teacher and also a language app. "The commitment I have is because of the reception I had here this year."

Advertisement

Ancelotti has the experience of losing a World Cup final with Italy — to Brazil — in a penalty shootout in 1994, when he was an assistant coach for the Azzurri. But he says this one hurts more, though it also opens his perspective for 2030.

"It is a tough time to digest this defeat. I was used to defeats at clubs because you can seek payback quickly. Now I have to wait. Sometimes I think about the defeat more than usual," Ancelotti said. "You have to have the strength to have an eye in the past and another one in the future. Each day that goes by I am thinking more about the future than the past."

___

Click here to read article