Don Carlo in Brazil: Can Ancelotti reinvent Selecao's beautiful game?

Over a century ago, an Englishman sailed across the ocean with a few footballs, and the world wasn't the same anymore. Today, an Italian is tasked to do something similar — reinvent Brazil's winning curveWhen you are in trouble, hire a suit. And when Brazilian

football

is desperate, they go for the Harvey Specter of world football. We know him as

Carlo Ancelotti

. Armed with a truckload of well-cut Italian suits, a love for good cigars and vintage wine, and a serial winner's attitude, good ol' ‘Don' Carlo will travel some 8400 km across the Atlantic to give Brazil's flatterers some hope.It is the only fuel, though CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues would say otherwise, that has forced Brazil to tear down the ‘Berlin' wall, finally.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!

For good or bad, Brazil is known across the globe for the Amazon rainforest, a geographical accident, and football, a man-made epiphany. In 1894, an Englishman, Charles Miller, sailed across the ocean with a few footballs and, like they say, the world wasn't the same anymore. An Italian, over a century later, is tasked to do something similar — reinvent the winning curve.Who's that IPL player?The men in yellow and green had ensured the football sun rose from that part of the world. Most things adorable in the game, that triggers a thousand explosions in the mind, were of Brazilian make. Inimitable.As with most empires, the sun has also set on Brazilian football. After 23 years and five World Cup failures, Brazil football and its people, somewhat reluctantly, went for the last option available. Bring in foreign knowhow to stave off more ignominy.Once enjoying an embarrassment of football riches, Brazil has only made the World Cup semifinal once in the last five attempts. The outcome was eminently forgettable, a historical disaster. The most recent mortification, against neighbours and bitter rivals Argentina at the Monumental in the 2026 World Cup qualifier, was the final straw.Get Ancelotti to stave off recurrent humiliation if not for engineering a World Cup victory.

Not all are happy with Ancelotti's appointment. President Lula da Silva said within 48 hours of the announcement, “Honestly, I have nothing against him being a foreigner... What I think is that we have coaches in Brazil capable of leading the Selecao.” Heads of the state expressing their innermost thoughts on football is not atypical in Brazil. Luiz Felipe Scolari, the 2002 World Cup winning team coach, had to survive presidential pressures to stick to his decision of excluding Romario from the Japan, Korea-bound squad in 2002.One can just hope that Ancelotti, winner of five Champions League titles and insurance of club success in Europe, can survive presidential displeasure for the next 13 months and disperse the dangerously fashionable idea that all migrants are detrimental to culture and society.

Certain things are in Ancelotti's favour. Top six out of 10 teams from Latin America will automatically qualify for this 48-team World Cup starting next June. The Italian tactician will get some quiet time to study and fix what is broken without the accompanying anxiety of non-qualification.Secondly, in what is surely to be a Europe-based squad, Ancelotti's credentials will never be in question. His fame has escaped none and in this data-driven world, no current Brazilian coach worth his salt can hold a candle to

Ancelotti

. One can list some 40-odd Brazilian players who have helped Ancelotti put together an unputdownable CV. Under his leadership, two among them,

Vinicius Junior

and Kaka, have been voted the best players in the world. Kaka in 2007, while playing for AC Milan and, of course, Real Madrid's Vinicius in 2024.Vinicius, Rodrygo and Raphinha, Selecao's designated front-three, have grown into excitable commodities under his watch – the arched eyebrow intact — in Spain. One may see Casemiro, once Ancelotti's go-to man at Real, being recalled to cure the midfield anaemia that Brazil have suffered against France, Holland, Germany, Belgium and Croatia in the World Cups, once a tournament of their making and liking.

Who's left in Europe, one may wonder?The challenges, too, are varied and complex. The issue of Neymar is a sore thumb for Brazil. Injuryplagued and forced back to the Brazilian ecosystem, Neymar was last seen in tears, limping out of the pitch in a Santos shirt a month ago. Getting the 34-year-old back to prime fitness to survive the rigours of international football seems to be an insurmountable task for Ancelotti. Else, he must find a new No. 10 in real quick time. A search for two wing backs and a consistent partner for centre-back and captain Marqinhos would also be a priority.Only three non-Brazilians have ever led the Selecao in its hallowed anthology, and they coached just seven games in all. Uruguayan Ramon Platero was the first in 1925 and managed four games, Joreca of Portugal managed two games in 1944, with Argentine Filpo Nunez the last foreign appointment, overseeing a single game in 1965. None among them was in charge of Brazil's World Cup destiny.Ancelotti ticked many successful firsts in his illustrious journey as a coach. Helming a national team, however, is going to be another matter, a point that was raised by President Lula in 2023 when Ancelotti's name began doing the rounds after Tite's failure in Qatar three years ago. “He has never been Italy's national coach... Why does he not resolve the problems of Italy, which did not even qualify for the 2022 World Cup?” the President had pertinently pointed out.Not all are sceptical of the unprecedented choice, though. ‘O Galinho'

Zico

had been one of the pioneers to prescribe Ancelotti as the antidote to Brazil's woes. “In fact, if I had to choose someone to replace Tite, a foreign coach, Ancelotti would be the first name on my list. Ancelotti likes Brazilian football, and he knows it well,” Zico, once a club rival in the 1980s Serie A, had said.Questions would irk Ancelotti throughout his time in the Brazilian theatre. The first of his on-field skirmishes is scheduled against Ecuador on June 6, just three weeks away, and Paraguay four days later. Taking charge on May 26, he will get a mere 10 days to put the right foot forward.Starting well may not be half the battle won for Ancelotti, but the buzz around Brazil will only grow exponentially. Cheers or jeers, only time will tell.