brazil Coach Carlo Ancelotti focuses on the long term and not on the immediacy of getting results in international friendlies.
The face of the Selecao Australia in the second of the two games tomorrow, four days after the first game ended in an entertaining 1-1 draw in Townsville.
It could have been a lot worse for Brazil, but they were leveled thanks to Rayan’s 95th-minute equalizer after Nestory Irankunda’s thrilling free-kick had put the Socceroos in front.
After a disappointing World Cup, in which Brazil crashed out in the last 16 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 squad for the upcoming 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 about the future of this generation, of these players. To what extent does the criticism affect the ideas I have for the future? In percentages… 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 América and the World Cup. This is the priority. The 26 (teams) may not be the best today, but we have to do something.”
Ancelotti has stressed, however, that this does not mean there is no focus on performing well now or getting results.
“No one, neither the coaching staff nor the players, thinks we will play a friendly,” he added. “We play a match 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.”
Australia’s challenge is to repeat the level of performance they showed at Queensland Country Bank Stadium last week.
“We’re pleased with the way we played (in Townsville), (but) disappointed to concede so late in a set,” Socceroos coach Tony Popovic said.
“The small detail at the end cost us a famous victory, but maybe on Tuesday we can try to fix it.
“It was a very good performance, but we should also look in which areas we can improve, and it’s all the little details that make the difference.
“If they (Brazil) can get back up and put on a better performance, I think we’ll have to be better than we were to get a result (Tuesday), and that doesn’t take anything away from what we did.
“We wanted to show that we can compete with such a strong nation and we competed well.”
Australia-Brazil team news
Australia have no injury concerns and Popovic is unlikely to make major changes to the team that performed so well last week.
Ancelotti is expected to make several changes to his XI with a Rayan player to start at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. The Bournemouth winger could replace Willian Estevao.
Line-ups expected for Australia-Brazil
Australia: Beach; Searches, Souttar, Herrington; Italiano, Irvine, O’Neill, Behich; McGree, Metcalfe; Irankunda
Brazil: Otávio; Vanderson, Jair Cunha, Gabriel, Mauro Junior; GUIMARÃES, Danilo, Bontempo; Rayan, Vinicius Jr, Raphinha
Australia-Brazil statistics
- In nine previous meetings, Brazil have won six, drawn two and lost one. Australia’s only win was 1-0 at the Confederations Cup in 2001. Brazil have also beaten them 6-0 twice, in 1997 and 2013.
- Raphinha has scored or assisted in 11 consecutive games for Brazil, and set up the equalizer late on Friday.
- Tony Popovic’s side have gone four games without a win (one draw, three defeats) and have scored just once in that run. They have not scored more than one goal in 11 of their last 13 games.
- Carlo Ancelotti’s side have lost just one of their last nine games, but have not kept a clean sheet in six consecutive friendlies. Both teams have scored in eight of their last 10 games.
Where to watch Australia-Brazil: TV and online broadcasts
Australia v Brazil kicks off at 11am BST UK time on Tuesday. Not shown on TV in the UK.
But you can watch it on bet365 Live sports broadcast service
Prediction for Australia-Brazil
A difficult game to call with Brazil ready to make so many changes. But you must feel that the visiting class must pass.
Prediction: Australia 1-2 Brazil
