Tag: Carlo Ancelotti

Brazil’s president has some questions over Carlo Ancelotti’s hiring

“He was never coach of Italy. Why doesn’t he solve the problem of Italy?”

Brazil president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, better known as Lula, has questioned Carlo Ancelotti’s impending appointment as Brazil national team head coach.

Brazilian federation president Ednaldo Rodrigues said earlier this week that Ancelotti would take charge next summer after his contract with Real Madrid expires.

Previous coach Tite resigned after Brazil lost to Croatia in the 2022 World Cup quarterfinal.

Ancelotti has had massive success at the club level but has never taken charge of a national team before. Additionally, he’ll be the first foreign manager of the Seleção since 1964.

It seems those issues may have struck a chord with Brazil’s president, who suggested that Ancelotti may have been better off trying to fix his own national team’s problems.

“He was never coach of Italy. Why doesn’t he solve the problem of Italy, which didn’t even play in the last World Cup?” Lula asked in an interview with SBT News.

Lula, a Corinthians fan, added: “It’s very easy to lead a team in Europe with 11 national team players. It’s hard to get here and get [relegation-threatened] Corinthians. I want to see if Ancelotti would fix Corinthians. My Corinthians are suffering a lot.”

Lula also had praise for Fernando Diniz, who has been appointed Brazil’s interim manager on a one-year deal.

On Diniz, who will also keep his role with Fluminense, Lula said he has “personality, creativity and command of the locker room” and believes he “will make good use of” his opportunity.

Brazil has not won a World Cup since 2002, and Lula believes that the coach is not what’s holding the South American power back.

“The problem is that we don’t have the quality of players that we had in other times,” Lula said.

[lawrence-related id=1087,18657,14424]

Carlo Ancelotti: What Giannis Antetokounmpo said was fantastic

The NBA star’s philosophy on failure in sports has gone viral and drawn widespread praise

Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti has said he agrees with Giannis Antetokounmpo’s viral response to a reporter asking if the Milwaukee Bucks’ season was a failure.

After the Bucks were eliminated from the NBA playoffs by the Miami Heat, Antetokounmpo was visibly frustrated by the question.

“It’s not a failure, it’s steps to success,” Antetokounmpo said. “Michael Jordan played for 15 years and won six championships. Were the other nine years a failure? It’s the wrong question. There’s no failure in sports.”

The Bucks star’s response has been widely praised by figures inside and outside sports. During a press conference on Monday, Ancelotti added to the chorus of praise for the Greek star’s philosophy.

“What Antetokounmpo said was fantastic. I think in 100 percent the same way as him,” the Italian coach said.

“In sport you can’t talk about failure, and in life you can’t talk about failure. Failure is when you don’t try to do something as well as you can. When you try to do your best, you have a clear conscience, and that’s never a failure, not just in sport but in life.

“In sport, you lose a lot more often than you win, I have a big cabinet with a lot of trophies, but if I had to include all the ones I’ve lost, it wouldn’t be a cabinet, it would be a house.”

[lawrence-related id=18659,18653,18591]

This Eden Hazard thing is just getting sad

The Belgian’s time in Madrid is an ongoing disaster

Eden Hazard has just about reached rock bottom at Real Madrid.

It seems like a decade ago now, but it really was just in 2019 when Madrid paid Chelsea €100 million to sign the Belgian — then one of the world’s foremost attacking players.

But Hazard’s time in Madrid has been, to put it nicely, a disaster.

First it was injuries that limited his minutes but at this point, Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti simply isn’t picking Hazard. Like, at all.

The Belgian has made just one La Liga start and two substitute appearances this season, and has seen the field exactly once since the World Cup break.

Once one of the world’s most feared players, Hazard now just wants to play.

“I miss it, I want to play, I want to have fun on the field. Training is good, but what keeps us alive are the matches,” Hazard told Belgian broadcaster RTBF.

“I hope deep inside me that I can bring something and that the coach is still counting on me, I hope. We’ll see if I’m still going to play by the end of the season. I doubt a little. It’s up to me to show him in training that he can call on me.”

Hazard: I don’t talk to Ancelotti

The 32-year-old made another frank admission in his interview: he doesn’t talk to his coach anymore.

“There is respect between us. But I’m not going to say that [Ancelotti and I] talk to each other, because we don’t,” Hazard said. “But there will always be respect. Even if tomorrow he doesn’t pick me anymore.

“I must have respect for a guy like Carlo Ancelotti. In terms of what he represents for football, what he has done in his career. There is no problem.”

In a press conference on Tuesday, Ancelotti did not dispute his player’s characterization of their relationship — or the lack thereof.

“The relationship isn’t cold. Look. We have to assess two things. Hazard has been very honest. We don’t talk much, I don’t speak much with him but speaking is also about character, if you get on better with one person or another,” the Italian said.

“It’s the same with your children, you can speak more with one child than another. That isn’t the most important thing, what’s important to me is that even though he doesn’t play much, he respects me, and I value that a lot, and I respect him in exactly the same way, that’s the most important thing for me.

“He isn’t playing because there’s a lot of competition, he has a player in that position who’s doing a lot right now, which is Vinícius.”

[lawrence-related id=14378,13268,11237]

Carlo Ancelotti: Vinicius Jr. is the most decisive player in the world

The Brazilian scored two and assisted another as Madrid beat Liverpool 5-2 in the Champions League

Carlo Ancelotti called Vinícius Jr. “the most decisive player in the world” after the Real Madrid star scored a brace against Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Liverpool went up 2-0 early in the last-16 first leg at Anfield, but Madrid came storming back with Vinícius leading the charge.

The Brazilian scored two goals and assisted one more as Madrid put up an incredible five unanswered goals to win the match 5-2 and take a giant step toward the last eight.

Vinícius victimized Liverpool for a second straight season in the Champions League, having scored the only goal in last season’s final.

After the game, Ancelotti heaped some major praise on the 22-year-old forward.

“Vinícius is the most decisive player in the world,” the Madrid boss told a press conference. “There is no other player like him right now. He doesn’t stop dribbling, shooting. I hope he can maintain this level.

“Winning like this isn’t easy, above all because of how the match began. We never lost confidence and little by little we won control of the ball. We were efficient up front and Vinícius produced an incredible performance.”

Vinícius has saved his top scoring form for the Champions League this season, as he’s scored seven goals in 21 La Liga games, and six goals in just seven Champions League matches.

Madrid will aim to seal a quarterfinal spot in the second leg at the Santiago Bernabéu on March 15.

[lawrence-related id=14378,13970]

Real Madrid consigue primer título de la temporada

Con el triunfo Carlo Ancelotti se convirtió en el técnico más ganador de la Supercopa de Europa

Alaba y Benzemá le dieron al Real Madrid el primer título de la temporada 2022-2023 al derrotar sin ninguna complicación al Eintracht Frankfurt por marcador de 2-0 en la Supercopa de Europa.

Con el triunfo Carlo Ancelotti se convirtió en el técnico más ganador de la Supercopa de Europa y ya sumó otro título bajo las riendas del Real Madrid.

Foto ESPECIAL

Por su parte uno de los autores de los goles del triunfo, el francés Karim Benzemá, también se acercó a dos títulos de Marcelo como el máximo ganador de títulos con el equipo merengue.

Para el Eintracht Frankfurt fue una grata experiencia conseguir la Europa League pero se quedó con las ganas de llevarse la Supercopa.

[lawrence-auto-related count=4]