World Cup winner Raphael Varane backs ex-Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti to lift Brazil

HONG KONG – French World Cup winner Raphael Varane has backed his former Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti to lift Brazil out of the doldrums, when the Italian takes over at the helm of the five-time World Cup winners later in May.

The 65-year-old was named Brazil’s first permanent foreign coach last week and will start in his new role on May 26 on a contract that runs through to the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The five-time Champions League-winning coach will lead the country into June’s South American qualifiers, and 2018 World Cup winner Varane believes that Ancelotti has the pedigree to reinvigorate the squad following recent struggles.

“What I can say is that in football, in national teams, it’s about being at the top level with a very short period of time to prepare yourself to perform,” Varane, who also played for Manchester United, said on the sidelines of the Hong Kong Soccer Sevens.

“So it’s a different challenge that you’re facing from the day to day with a club.

“But I think if you’re capable of winning trophies like the Champions League, and if you’re capable of raising your level for big games, then you’re capable of doing it anywhere, at any time.”

The Frenchman added: “I think Carlo is a great coach. He has a lot of experience, so he knows how to prepare the players to perform at the right time.

“That’s the difficult thing. You have to meet with history.

“Every time (at the World Cup) it’s only one chance, so you can’t miss many opportunities. I think at the top level he knows how to do it.”

The 32-year-old retired defender knows Ancelotti well after they shared two seasons at Real in the Italian’s first spell in charge and together they won the Champions League in 2014, one of four continental crowns Varane collected at the Bernabeu.

Brazil are currently fourth in the standings in the South American preliminaries, 10 points adrift of bitter rivals Argentina – the title holders who have already secured their berth at the 2026 tournament in North America.

The top six all reach the World Cup, with seventh place going into the intercontinental play-offs.

While the Brazilians remain likely to qualify despite their faltering form, Varane was confident Ancelotti could raise standards to ensure the team are competitive at the Finals.

“If he goes there, he knows how to do it, how to prepare the players, feeling comfortable and confident enough because we are talking about Brazil,” he said.

“At that level, the players have the quality. They just need to be together and confident.”

Meanwhile, with Barcelona beating Real to the La Liga title, Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup – Real, having been knocked out of the Champions League, have only the Club World Cup left to fight for.

“This is part of football, sometimes you’re not able to get the best out of everyone,” Ancelotti said.

“Barcelona have done very well, because they’ve been more consistent in the league and played very beautiful football.

“I congratulate them. They deserved to win this league.”
REUTERS, AFP