Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti reviewed the World Cup defeat against Norway in an interview with Brazilian media ge.globo. The Italian manager admitted his tactical adjustments made during the second-half cooling break caused his side to lose control of the match.
Would you adopt the same strategy if you faced Norway again?
Carlo Ancelotti: I thought the team’s positioning and organisation were solid until the cooling break in the second half. (During the cooling break of the second half, Ancelotti made two substitutions: Danilo Santos and Neymar came off the bench to replace Martinelli and Rayan.)We had chances to score via a penalty and Endrick. My self-criticism, which I shared after the match, is that I changed the team’s formation after the cooling break, and that made us lose command of the game.
Neymar was brought on in the second half, Endrick shifted out wide, while Rayan, Martinelli and Cunha were all substituted. Do you believe that moment marked the critical turning point of the game?
Carlo Ancelotti: I believe it did bring changes to the team. We lost some control on the flanks. I introduced Neymar hoping to regain match dominance and inject greater attacking quality upfront to win the game. It was part of the decision-making process.
You have to make choices in knockout football. Just like against Japan: sometimes decisions prove correct when results go your way; sometimes they look poor because the outcome fails to reward you.
But what was your immediate feeling during the game? Did you sense trouble brewing when Norway held possession frequently?
Carlo Ancelotti: I felt changes were needed, so I brought on Neymar to add more quality in attack. Judging work purely by results is wrong. The result against Norway was terrible, hugely disappointing and upsetting for everyone.
Behind the result lies a full year’s work and World Cup preparation. Not only me, everyone believes we have done a solid job. It was a fast-paced preparation process filled with obstacles. Between March and June, we suffered eight injury setbacks, including Militão, Rodrygo, and later Estevão. That more or less altered the team structure we had carefully built over a short period.
