Ancelotti is more interested in the next Brazil than the last one.
His first squad since Brazil’s Round of 16 exit to Norway leaves out Alisson, Casemiro and Fabinho, and hands minutes instead to Chelsea’s Estevao, Bournemouth teenager Rayan and Real Madrid’s Endrick. Vinicius Junior and Raphinha stay on as the senior figures around them.
“We know Alisson very well, and when the competitions, like the Copa America, come, if he remains being the best goalkeeper in Brazil, Alisson will play,” Ancelotti said of the decision.
“Right now, however, we have to prioritise the younger ones.”
Only nine players from Brazil’s World Cup squad have been kept: Douglas Santos, Gabriel Magalhaes, Marquinhos, Danilo, Bruno Guimaraes, Endrick, Raphinha, Rayan and Vinicius Junior. The rest is a mix of Brazilian-league regulars and European-based young players Ancelotti wants a first look at, from Manchester City’s Vitor Reis to Manchester United’s Andrey Santos.
Two in Australia, then Kolkata
Kick-off at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville is at 8pm local time on Friday, 25 September, and the second match follows at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane at 8pm local time on Tuesday, 29 September.
Four days later the squad flies on to India. Brazil play at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium in Kolkata on 3 October.
‘The World Cup was a disappointment’
The Italian, who has extended his contract as Brazil head coach through to the 2030 World Cup, is not softening how the summer felt.
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“The World Cup was a disappointment for us and for me personally,” Ancelotti said. “We weren’t able to play the way we expected.”
The squad reflects that reset: two Chelsea forwards in Estevao and Joao Pedro, first call-ups for Athletico Paranaense’s Arthur Dias and Nottingham Forest’s Jair, and 18-year-old Bournemouth forward Rayan.
Neymar retired, and injured
There is no place for Neymar in this reset, in either sense. The Santos forward announced his retirement from the national team minutes after the loss to Norway on 5 July, having come off the bench and converted a stoppage-time penalty at MetLife Stadium.
“I tried. It started here, at MetLife Stadium, and I finished here. It is now over,” he told reporters.
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He would not have been fit anyway. Neymar suffered a type 2B tear to his right rectus femoris playing for Santos in early September, ruling him out for four to eight weeks and out of Santos’ Copa Sudamericana quarter-final against Atletico Mineiro.
Kick-off in Townsville is at 8pm local time on Friday.
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