Carlo Ancelotti explains Neymar snub: “We were waiting”
The Brazil head coach did not call upon Neymar at any point against Japan, even when the team needed a goal.
Carlo Ancelotti has guided Brazil through to the round of 16 but needed a last-minute Gabriel Martinelli goal to beat Japan 2-1 on Monday.
Brazil went behind in the game and did not take the lead until the sixth minute of added time at the end of the game. However Ancelotti did not turn to Neymar at any point, even though he has now returned from the calf injury that ruled him out of the first two World Cup games.
Speaking after the game, Ancelotti explained: “We were waiting for Neymar in extra time. I spoke with him and told him that if we had not been drawing on the 60th minute, he would have come on.”
“[But] we were drawing and I didn’t want to change the structure... The team had control of the game.”
Ancelotti claimed that Casemiro’s 56th minute goal to draw Brazil level changed the calculation and he was content with his team’s performance at that point. Neymar did come off the bench late on in the 3-0 win over Scotland last week but struggled to have an impact on the game.
Neymar was a surprise call-up from Ancelotti, who has given the 34-year-old superstar his first minutes with Brazil since October 2023. Neymar has suffered a succession of injuries in recent years but remains an icon of Brazilian soccer, idolized by fans and teammates alike.
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