On Friday, against Ecuador in Guayaquil, Carlo Ancelotti will become the first foreigner ever to take sole charge of Brazil. For any major nation to turn to a foreign coach is always an admission of failure.
Apart from England, the only other country to turn to a foreign coach after winning the World Cup is Uruguay, which has a population of just 3.5 million, and they didn’t do so for half a century after last lifting the trophy (the Argentinians Daniel Passarella in 1999 until 2001 and Marcelo Bielsa from 2023 to today). But the truth is that Brazilian coaching has been in retreat for some time.