There are few jobs in football that arrive with more expectations than managing Brazil, and there are few managers better equipped to handle expectation than Carlo Ancelotti.
The Italian has spent the last three decades collecting trophies across Europe, winning league titles in five countries and Champions Leagues almost wherever he has gone, yet even he admits there is something different about standing on the touchline with the weight of an entire football nation resting on his shoulders.
That responsibility officially begins against Morocco later today, when Ancelotti takes charge of Brazil in a World Cup match for the first time.
This is a man whose career has included enough Champions League nights to fill an entire Netflix series, so a World Cup group game should theoretically be just another Saturday at work.
Ancelotti’s pre-match remarks, however, suggested even he knows this job comes with a different level of noise.
“Fear is an important part of life,” Ancelotti said in the most Ancelotti way in the pre-match press conference.
The 67-year-old knows Brazil arrive at this tournament carrying the expectations that always follow the yellow shirt, but also the reality that the most successful nation in football has spent the last two decades searching for another World Cup triumph.
Brazil’s last title came in 2002. Since then, there have been quarter-final exits, managerial changes, and numerous moments of pain, none bigger than the 7-1 defeat to Germany in 2014. So Ancelotti has history posing at his biggest opponent on Day 1 of the World Cup as the Brazil boss.
Brazil’s opening opponents are Morocco, the team that became the first African nation to reach a World Cup semi-final in Qatar and spent the tournament dismantling even heavyweights like Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.
Which means Ancelotti’s first World Cup assignment is far from a gentle introduction.
WHY ANCELOTTI’S BRAZIL FEELS DIFFERENT
Brazil are still loaded with talent, of course. They always are. Even in a phase of uncertainty, there is enough quality here to make opponents carve out special tactical plans.
Vinicius Junior enters the competition as one of the most dangerous attackers in world football, capable of turning a game in the space of two touches. Raphinha has quietly become one of the most productive forwards around, while Casemiro and Marquinhos provide the kind of experience that tends to become invaluable once tournaments move into knockout football.
Then there is Neymar, because with Brazil there is always Neymar.
The country’s all-time leading scorer will miss the opener against Morocco as he continues to recover from a calf injury, but even his absence has become part of the wider story. For more than a decade, Brazil’s fortunes have been discussed through the lens of Neymar, and the fact that supporters are already counting down the days until his return tells its own story.
Ancelotti has attempted to bring a slightly different energy to the squad. There is less noise around systems and revolutions, and more focus on balance, clarity and allowing talented players to do what they do best. It sounds simple enough, but international football has a habit of exposing ideas that look straightforward on paper.
At club level, Ancelotti could spend months fine-tuning a team. International football offers no such luxury. This makes the Morocco clash the first big test for the Italian manager.
Victory would make everything look wonderfully sensible. Anything else and Brazil’s relationship with World Cup anxiety will pick up exactly where it left off four years ago.
CAN BRAZIL FEEL LIKE BRAZIL AGAIN?
Winning the World Cup is the bare minimum for Brazil, but their real mission is remembering who they actually are. Lately, that famous Brazilian magic has felt a bit lost. Thankfully, Ancelotti gets the assignment, focusing on enjoying the wild ride rather than letting the stress eat him alive.
“It’s a new experience, but obviously a special one,” Ancelotti said. “It means having the responsibility and the honour of representing the home of football.”
The good news? Few managers handle crazy pressure as casually as Carletto. The bad news? International football loves to make even the biggest coaching geniuses look totally clueless on any given night.
Whether that matters will begin to reveal itself against Morocco.
And after 24 years of waiting, belief is probably the one thing Brazil supporters have been missing most.
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