By Fernando Kallas
TANGER (Reuters) – Carlo Ancelotti is the man of the moment in the Brazil locker room, with Vinicius Jr. the latest player to speak well of the Italian coach of Real Madrid, favorite to become his next manager in the national team.
As Brazil prepare to face Morocco in a friendly in Tangier on Saturday, Vinicius said he faces a personal dilemma with Ancelotti, who is his manager at Real Madrid.
The 63-year-old Italian, with a contract with the Spanish club until 2024, is the CBF’s main target to take over as coach of the national team at the end of the season.
“For me it is a little difficult to talk about it, because if I had him in the national team, I would lose him at Real Madrid. And if I have it in Real, I won’t have it in the national team,” Vinicius told reporters after Thursday’s training session.
“Ancelotti is the best coach I’ve ever had. He likes me a lot and that feeling is mutual. I believe he would be very useful here, as he is at Real.”
Vinicius said every coach would love to be in charge of Brazil, whose last coach, Tite, stepped down after the team was knocked out of last year’s World Cup by Croatia in the quarter-finals.
“Our group is very talented and everyone gets along very well, there are no problems in the locker room and he would fit in very well. I believe he would love to come”, said Vinicius.
“Ancelotti is the best for the way he treats me and the way he deals with young players. For his knowledge and the way he teaches.”
“He also likes Brazilian players a lot. Ronaldo Nazário talks a lot about him, he tells me that Ancelotti is also the best coach he has had in his career.”
Vinicius capped a stellar 2022-23 campaign by scoring the goal that gave Real Madrid a record 14th European Champions League title with a 1-0 win over Liverpool, and is now the country’s biggest star, who feels Neymar foul, injured.
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