Despite how it might look on paper, Brazil did not necessarily hit a new low at high altitude by losing 1-0 against Bolivia this week. As their place at the World Cup was already reserved, Carlo Ancelotti could afford to field a second-string side with seven changes. It looked like they would return home from 4,000 metres above sea level with a draw until Bruno Guimarães gave away a penalty.
Miguel Terceros smashed the spot-kick past Alisson, securing a place in the playoffs for the hosts, who are now dreaming of reaching the World Cup for the first time since 1994, which is, of course, when Brazil won the tournament in the US. This has been a successful campaign for Bolivia. Not so Brazil, who finished fifth in the table with just 28 points from 18 games, making it the worst qualification campaign in their history.
Moaning about the Seleção, once the pride and joy of all Brazilians, has become a national pastime. But there are reasons to be optimistic. The worst campaign before this? That would be when they picked up 30 points on their way to Japan and South Korea in 2002 – when they won the most recent of their five World Cups.
There are a number of parallels between the two campaigns. Brazil also went through three managers on the road to 2002; their 3-0 defeat against Chile in 2000 was heavily criticised, just like the 4-1 defeat by Argentina this year that led to Dorival Júnior’s dismissal; and both campaigns took in defeats in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia.
There is also the state of the team’s star player. In 2002, Ronaldo had been written off and deemed over the hill as he recovered from a major injury. Come 30 June 2002, though, he was once again the king of the sport. He fired two goals past the Germany goalkeeper Oliver Kahn in Yokohama and celebrated with the Golden Boot, the Ballon d’Or and a move to Real Madrid.
Similar prizes were expected to come Neymar’s way when he burst on to the scene in the early 2010s. He has overtaken Pelé as the national team’s record goalscorer, and he has produced some moments of genius in his second spell at Santos, but his return home has also produced clashes with fans and a 6-0 defeat against Vasco da Gama that left him in tears.
Debate has raged about whether he can produce a comeback for the ages next summer. The UOL journalist Rodrigo Mattos says it is “unlikely that Neymar will be a relevant player at the World Cup” but that nothing can be ruled out given that Ronaldo’s career was similarly “over” before the World Cup in 2002. The columnist Alicia Klein says that anyone backing Neymar to star in the US is basing that opinion on “dreams, desires, and video games” because he “hasn’t shown that football for a long time”.
The 33-year-old, who has not played for Brazil since October 2023, was left out of this squad. With Rodrygo and Vinícius Júnior also left at home, Ancelotti had a look at other attacking options. It is probably best to forget about the trip to La Paz, after which Ancelotti’s boss, the Brazilian Football Confederation president Samir Xaud, complained that Brazil were up against Bolivia’s anti-football as well as “the referees, police and ballboys” – not to mention the altitude. But there were plenty of positives to be taken from the resounding 3-0 win against Chile in Rio de Janeiro last week.
Brazil were in free-flowing, high-scoring mode at the Maracanã, with Estêvão Willian and Luiz Henrique both impressive. Estêvão, extending his great start to the season with Chelsea, opened the scoring with his first goal for Brazil. Luiz Henrique, who joined Zenit St Petersburg this year from Botafogo, set up his fellow substitute Lucas Paquetá for the second, and was instrumental in the third, which was finished by Guimarães.
There were a few familiar faces back in the team. Paquetá, cleared of spot-fixing and back in the side after almost a year out, was excellent. João Pedro returned after a strong start for Chelsea. Richarlison, who worked with Ancelotti at Everton, featured in both games and is also on the up, with two goals and one assist in three league games for Spurs this season.
Many in Brazil would like to see the Flamengo striker Pedro given a chance, but João Pedro and Richarlison are likely to compete for the No 9 shirt. Samuel Lino, who became Flamengo’s record signing when he joined from Atlético Madrid this summer, made his debut against Bolivia. And Ancelotti has suggested that Matheus Cunha, who missed this trip with injury, could adopt Neymar’s No 10 role.
Ancelotti will not be short of attacking dynamos. He’ll have to decide whether to go with big personalities such as Neymar, and those he knows well in Vinícius and Rodrygo, or in-form players who are on the upwards curve in Estêvão and Luiz Henrique. At least he seems to have an idea of his best midfield, or at least midfielders. Casemiro, a self-dubbed “Ancelotti soldier”, has been recalled by the manager, who says he has “characteristics that no other Brazilian player” offers.
Against Chile, Casemiro and Guimarães started as a double pivot behind Raphinha. As Casemiro was suspended against Bolivia for one too many yellow cards, the Chelsea midfielder Andrey Santos was given his first competitive start for Brazil in a trio completed by fellow Premier League players Guimarães and Paquetá. Ancelotti used these internationals to chop and change between full-backs, but Marquinhos, Gabriel Magalhães and the newcomer Alexsandro are solid picks at centre-back, with Éder Militão – another former Real Madrid colleague – likely to team up with Ancelotti once more when he has fully recovered from his second anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Friendlies in October against Japan and South Korea may be good opportunities for Militão and Neymar, who admits he is not playing well enough to be picked at the minute, to represent their country again in a part of the world that is special to the Seleção. Ancelotti says his team need to improve and that he expects them to be better come crunch time. The country is not overly optimistic after such a poor performance in qualifying but, as Brazil fans of a certain age are aware, it has been done before.
This is an article by Tom Sanderson
