Do you have to be Brazilian to become the boss of the Seleçao? This is the debate posed by the President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Thursday on the SBT channel. Lula has indeed strongly criticized the appointment of the Italian Carlo Ancelotti at the head of the Brazilian selection from 2024. “I appreciate Ancelotti, but he was never the coach of Italy. Why does it not solve the problem of Italy, which did not participate in the last World Cup? “asked the 77-year-old leader in this interview, Thursday evening, for Brazilian television. The Real Madrid coach was chosen on Tuesday to take charge of the Seleçao from the 2024 Copa America, which will take place from June 20 to July 14, according to a source from the Brazilian Football Confederation.
Until then, it is Fernando Diniz, the technician of Fluminense, Brazilian D1 club, who will be on the Auriverde bench. “I’m a fan of Diniz, he has personality, creativity and he’s the one in charge in the locker room,” said Lula. We feel that the Brazilian president would have preferred to see this one installed in the long term. Among his criticisms, Lula refers to the fact that Carlo Ancelotti has so far never been both a coach and a coach outside of Europe.
“What is difficult is coming here and leading Corinthians”
“It’s very easy to lead a team in Europe with eleven international players, balances the politician. What’s hard is coming here and leading the Corinthians [qui sont aux portes de la zone de relégation en D1 brésilienne]. I would like to see if Ancelotti would do well with the Corinthians… ”At 49, Fernando Diniz will start on the bench of the Seleçao in September, during the qualifications for the 2026 World Cup, with matches against Bolivia and Peru. Lula doubts, however, that he can “assemble a good selection”.
According to him, Brazil does not have a “very good” generation of players at the moment. “The problem is not Diniz, the problem is that today we don’t have the quality of players that we had in other eras,” he regrets. In search of a world title since 2002, and eliminated in the quarter-finals by Croatia, during the last World Cup in Qatar, the Seleçao will still be able to rely on Eder Militao, Casemiro, Rodrygo and Vinicius. As many executive players as “Don Carlo” has (had) under his command at Real Madrid. This may also partly explain it.