Carlo Ancelotti stays calm as Brazil seek fixes against Haiti

PHILADELPHIA – Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti was not in panic mode after his side’s World Cup campaign opened with a splutter, saying their Group C meeting with Haiti on June 19 (June 20, Singapore time) was a chance to repair the flaws exposed in their 1-1 draw with Morocco.

The five-time champions needed a flash of brilliance from Vinicius Jr to rescue a point in their opener, after Ismael Saibari had given Morocco an early lead.

Now come Haiti in Philadelphia, a match Brazil will be expected to win against one of the tournament’s minnows, who began with a 1-0 defeat by Scotland.

Ancelotti, whose side are level with Morocco on one point and two behind the Scots, remained confident in his players’ ability.

“You don’t win the World Cup in the first match,” the Italian told reporters on June 18.

“The players’ self-criticism was very positive. I think we’ll sort out the problems; I remain confident that we’ll be competitive.”

Ancelotti, who took charge a little over a year ago, gave little away about his team selection but suggested he would make adjustments rather than wholesale changes.

“We’re going to make a few changes... to improve our balance and our play,” he said.

“We can do better and we have to do better.”

He also said the weight of the yellow shirt may have affected his players in their opening match.

“The first half was a bit unexpected; it may be that the pressure of wearing the shirt in the opening match affected the players’ mental state a little,” he said.

“Getting off to a good start was important, but it isn’t the most important thing.

“We have to give further opportunities to the players who didn’t perform well in the first half against Morocco.

“No one in our team played at their best.

“But I don’t think the opening matches will determine the final outcome of the World Cup.”

Asked whether supporters should worry about Brazil still lacking a clear tactical identity under him, Ancelotti said flexibility was the point.

“I don’t want a single identity,” he said. “I want my team to have multiple identities.”

Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes, meanwhile, urged Brazil to move on from their disappointing opener.

“We know what we have to do. We know that we didn’t have a good first match. But what we can expect from us is that we’ll be really committed and we’re going to do our best to win,” he said.

“It wasn’t the match we wanted (against Morocco), but this is in the past and we’ve learnt from it.”

In the other camp, Haiti coach Sebastien Migne knows his side face a monumental battle, but he said the Caribbean underdogs have nothing to lose.

Playing at their first World Cup since 1974, they began by losing to Scotland, with John McGinn’s first-half goal proving decisive, despite a late push in which Frantzdy Pierrot headed narrowly wide.

The challenge is even bigger now in Brazil, and a match that would send shockwaves through Port-au-Prince and beyond if Haiti were to pull off the unthinkable.

“We’ll have to run more than we did against Scotland,” Migne said.

“Tomorrow we’ve got everything to gain in a match like this.

“It’s been 52 years since we last featured in a World Cup, and now we’re up against Brazil – we’ve got to live up to our fans’ expectations.

“It’s a privilege to be here, and I hope we can make the Haitian people proud of us.”

Migne added that Haiti’s ambitions had not been dented by the loss to Scotland, insisting they had already shown they belong on the game’s biggest stage.

“We didn’t beat Scotland, but we showed that we deserve to be here,” said the Frenchman. “The objective hasn’t changed...

“The objective is to try to qualify, to present a good image and to show that we deserve our place in the next round – perhaps as third-placed team.

“It would be absolute madness in Haiti if we won this match.” AFP, REUTERS