Football: Brazil willing to wait as they target Ancelotti for coach job

RABAT – The Brazilian Football Association (CBF) will wait until the end of the 2022-23 European season to fill the vacant Brazil coach position with Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti their main target.

Following the exit of Tite after their Qatar World Cup quarter-final penalty defeat by Croatia, CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues said in November that he wanted to find his replacement between January and February.

However, sources told Reuters on Friday that Rodrigues has changed his mind and will take his time as his objective is to sign a world-class coach to lead the country to the 2026 World Cup in North America.

That means five-time World Cup winners Brazil will play their international matches in March and June with Under-20 coach Ramon Menezes in temporary charge.

Brazil’s main target is Ancelotti, although sources close to all parties involved told Reuters that no negotiations have taken place between the CBF, the Italian and Spanish giants Real.

According to Brazilian media outlet Globo, Rodrigues is planning to meet Real president Florentino Perez in the coming weeks before making any formal approach to Ancelotti, who is under contract with the club until 2023-24.

Sources close to the 63-year-old, however, told Reuters that he is totally focused on his current position at Real and will discuss his future with the club only at the end of the season.  Real are second in La Liga and face Liverpool in the Champions League round of 16.

CBF issued a statement denying a report from ESPN Brasil that it had reached a verbal agreement with Ancelotti, who has won both the Champions League and La Liga with Real and said this would be his last club as a coach.

“This information is false,” the federation said in a brief statement. “The question (of a new coach) is being dealt with in a transparent manner and the chosen coach will be announced when the time is right.”

“My situation is pretty clear, I have a contract until 2024 with Real and I intend to fulfil it, I’m not aware of what has been published in Brazil about me,” Ancelotti said in Morocco on Friday on the eve of Real’s Club World Cup final against Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal.

Waiting for the end of the season will allow the CBF to have a clearer vision of the managerial landscape and other names available if negotiations with Real and Ancelotti do not progress.

“We want a top-class manager with international prestige,” a high-ranking CBF source said.

With Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola considered unattainable, familiar names like Roma’s Jose Mourinho, former Spain coach Luis Enrique, ex-Real coach Zinedine Zidane and Fenerbahce’s Jorge Jesus are seen as possible contenders. Among the Brazilians, Fluminense’s Fernando Diniz is one of the favourites inside the CBF. AFP, REUTERS