Italian Carlo Ancelotti, the coach of the Brazilian national team, expressed his deep dissatisfaction with the sudden loss that his team suffered against the Japanese national team, with a score of 3-2, in the friendly match that brought together the two teams as part of their preparations for the 2026 World Cup.
The Seleção team played the match at the Aginomoto Stadium in Japan, within the current international break, which witnessed its victory in the first match against South Korea by 5-0, before faltering in its second experience against the Japanese.
Despite the team’s positive performance during the first half of the match, the significant decline in the second half cost Brazil the result of the match, amid criticism of the lack of balance and discipline after receiving the first goal.
Ancelotti: “The second half was a disaster and we have to be more balanced.”
In the press conference that followed the match, Ancelotti stressed that the result of the match is not the most important thing at the moment, but rather what the team can learn from its mistakes.
He said: “This period is dedicated to experimenting and evaluating performance, and the result of today’s match against Japan was an important lesson for us. There are many things we must learn, especially from what happened in the second half.”
He added: “Against South Korea, we were organized and effective, and we repeated that in the first half today, but as soon as we received the first goal, we lost our focus, and the collapse began. We lost balance, and this is what we must work on in the coming period.”
Ancelotti: “Losing is painful… but no one is above mistakes.”
Ancelotti explained that the team is still in the learning and adapting phase, and that the defeat, although harsh, may be necessary for an early course correction.
He continued: “I do not like losing, and no one does, but in football, defeats happen, and we must know how to benefit from them. We all feel angry after a loss, and this is normal, but the most important thing is that we know how to come back stronger.”
He stressed that the real mistake was in the players’ reaction after the first goal, and not in committing the mistake itself, stressing the need for the team to maintain calm and cohesion in the most difficult moments.
Regarding the individual errors that cost Brazil fatal goals, Ancelotti said that he would not hold any player fully responsible, indicating that his evaluation would be on the collective performance and the team’s reaction.
He explained: “Individual errors occur in football, but they do not mean that this player will not participate later. What I evaluate is how the team behaves after the error. Unfortunately, the reaction was not good today.”
He concluded his speech by saying: “We are now in the stage of building a team capable of competing in the World Cup, and this match was a harsh but important lesson on our path towards development.”
It is worth noting that the Brazilian national team was defeated by Japan with a score of 3-2, after being ahead by two unanswered goals during the events of the first half.
