Advance in 2 games! Ancelotti recreates Brazilian mythology, double waist locks, 170 million strikers awaken

On the map of the football world, in the summer of 2025, a 65-year-old Italian man wrote a new legendary chapter for the Samba Legion with two soul-stirring battles. He is Carlo Ancelotti. In just 14 days, Ancelotti was like a magical magician, allowing the five-star Brazil to regain its lost steel will for 22 years. On June 11, 2025, Maracana Stadium was drowned out by boiling cheers. When Vinicius sent the ball accurately into Paraguay's goal in the 63rd minute, the whole of Brazil fell into a crazy celebration. On the sidelines, the old man wearing a white shirt and a blue tie just pushed his glasses calmly, and everything was in his plan. This day was Ancelotti's 66th birthday. The huge tifo in the stands sent him the most sincere blessings, while the players gave him the most precious gifts for his birthday with a 1-0 victory. This victory allowed Brazil to secure the ticket to the 2026 World Cup two rounds ahead of schedule.

Go back to a month ago, Brazilian football is in a quagmire. On May 13, when Ancelotti took over the coaching spell of Brazil, this former kingly team was facing an unprecedented dilemma: he lost 1-4 to Argentina in the World Cup, and his ranking dropped to fourth in the South American region. His defense line was like a sieve, conceding goals in four consecutive games. But Ancelotti was not afraid at all, and he completed an amazing redemption with two games. A 0-0 draw with Ecuador away, defeated Paraguay 1-0 at home, 1 win, 1 draw, and 0 conceded goals. Ancelotti's Samba debut was perfect.

Italian concrete, pouring samba's solid defense line

"I am an Italian, and I am happiest to win the opponent." After the game, Ancelotti's humorous speech caused laughter from the audience. But behind this joke is the key to the transformation of Brazilian football. At the beginning of his tenure, Ancelotti made a decision that surprised traditional Brazilian footballers: to abandon the classic 4-3-3 formation and switch to the more pragmatic 4-2-3-1. The core of this change of formation is the use of double midfielders. The "steel meat grinder" composed of Casemiro and Guimaraes has become the mainstay of Brazil's defense.

On the away game of the plateau at an altitude of 2,850 meters in Quito, Casemiro and Guimaraes used their tenacious defense to deliver an amazing answer: 15 steals and interceptions, successfully blocking Ecuador's midfield offense completely. Guimaraes averaged 12 kilometers per game, and Casemiro's pass success rate was as high as 85%. Technical statistics show that Ancelotti's defensive system has improved Brazil's defensive efficiency by 25% compared with his predecessor. Brazil, which once conceded four consecutive games, now conceded zero goals in two games. This is the magical magic of Ancelotti, the coach of the five-Champions League championship.

Casemiro's return is a masterpiece. This veteran who once fought side by side with Ancelotti at Real Madrid has been neglected by Brazil for a long time. As soon as Ancelotti took office, he recalled the "midfield scavenger" without hesitation and gave him a core position. After two games, it turns out that the 33-year-old "Fat Tiger" is still the world's top midfield barrier.

Mr. 170 million finally awakened and shined with the samba stage

If the transformation on the defensive end is the success of Ancelotti's tactical system, then the outbreak of Vinicius on the offensive end gave the fans a huge surprise. This Real Madrid superstar, worth 170 million euros, finally found his own light under Ancelotti's command. The winning goal against Paraguay was Vinicius's first goal in his last 12 national team games. In the previous 39 national team games, Vinicius scored only 6 goals, which is in sharp contrast to his outstanding performance in the club. Ancelotti's wonderful move lies in his bold adjustment of his position: moving Vinicius from the left to the position of the pseudo-Nine. This change completely activates the Brazilian striker's full energy. During the game, Vinicius not only completed 5 key passes and 3 successful passes, but also actively participated in counter-attacks while defending, and his running distance increased by 1.5 kilometers compared to before. A live observer commented: "Vinicios is extremely active in the position of the pseudo-Nine. He keeps running and running, causing great trouble for his opponent's defense." When the 170 million gentleman began to realize his talents, any opponent's defense would tremble.

From the trough to the peak, Ancelotti's lightning counterattack

Looking back at the moment when Ancelotti took over the Brazilian team, Brazilian football was suffering from the pain of "no championship in 22 years". Since winning the World Cup in 2002, the Samba Legion has been unable to touch the threshold of the finals. The 1-7 defeat to Germany in the 2014 Domestic World Cup has become a permanent pain for Brazilian football. During his former coaching career, Dorival won only 7 wins in 16 games. After losing to Argentina 1-4 on March this year, the Brazilian Football Association learned from its mistakes and offered an annual salary of 18 million euros, hiring the first foreign coach in team history.

The arrival of Ancelotti is undoubtedly a revolution in football concepts. Brazilian football legend Ronaldo once admitted: "We need the advanced tactical concepts of Europe so much." For many years, although Brazilian players have been starring in the European arena, the national team has lost their direction on the road of "saying goodbye to Samba and embracing Europe", losing their traditional football skills, and failing to fully grasp the essence of European football. Today, Ancelotti has injected a new soul into Samba football with Italian pragmatic philosophy. He proved with practical actions that beautiful football must be based on victory.

The World Cup full attendance record continues, and there are still suspense to be solved in the future

With Brazil defeating Paraguay, the South American region of the 2026 US, Canada and Mexico World Cup has identified three teams in the South American region: Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador. Brazil continues a legendary record that has never missed the World Cup since 1930. But for Ancelotti, his challenge has just begun.

Can Neymar return healthy in the future? This superstar who is gradually fading out of the national team is still the most creative player in the Brazilian team. How will Ancelotti position him? Can Vinicius's pseudo-Nine experiment continue to perform miraculous results in future games? When the opponent knows this tactic well, what will Ancelotti deal with it? Can the double midfielder system remain so strong when facing European strong teams? After all, the intensity of the World Cup knockout round is far from comparable to the World Cup qualifiers.

Ancelotti was known for his versatility in tactics when coaching at Bayern and Real Madrid. In the 2017 German Super Cup, the "fake Christmas tree" formation he arranged was unpredictable to the media and his opponents, and he finally successfully defeated Dortmund; at Real Madrid, he boldly used Bellingham and Guerre as the No. 10 position, achieving good results. Now, holding the luxurious lineup of Brazil and Ancelotti's tactical cube will surely transfer more colorful patterns, let's wait and see.