Having lost all of their World Cup knockout games to European teams since 2006, Brazil turned to a European coach — Carlo Ancelotti — in an attempt to turn their fortunes around.
This run of defeats against European teams started in 2006 when they lost to France, four years after Brazil famously won the last of their five World Cup titles.
A quarterfinal defeat to the Netherlands in 2010 was followed by the catastrophic 7-1 loss to Germany on home soil in the 2014 World Cup semifinals.
Then at Russia 2018, they slumped to a quarterfinal defeat to the Eden Hazard-inspired Belgium.
At Qatar 2022, despite a moment of magic from Neymar, Brazil went down on penalties in the quarters against Croatia, a nation of 3.8 million people which continues to punch above its weight on the global football stage.
Ancelotti is an Italian coach whose trophy-laden club career has earned him a place among the greatest football managers of all time.
But for a proud football nation like Brazil, it was not an easy decision to break the long tradition and hire a foreign coach for the first time in its history.
Brazil was pushed into a dark corner after an embarrassing 4-1 defeat to Argentina, their bitter South American rivals who were missing Lionel Messi, in a World Cup qualifying game last year.
In just over a year since his appointment, Ancelotti had managed to put the house in order as Brazil scraped through the qualifying rounds.
After all the ups and downs, Brazil arrived in North America for a tilt at the sixth World Cup glory.
While Ancelotti’s tactical acumen will be key to Brazil finding the balance between attack and defence, it’s the team’s Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr whose mazy runs from the left wing and deft finish inside the box could eventually determine if Brazil can go all the way in North America.
The spotlight is clearly on the 39-year-old Messi, who continues to produce age-defying heroics, scoring six goals in three matches for Argentina.
French superstars Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Norwegian star Erling Haaland are also in red-hot form, each of them scoring four goals so far in the tournament.
But if it wasn’t for Vinicius Jr’s individual brilliance, Brazil would probably have lost their opening game to Morocco.
The 2022 World Cup semifinalists were clearly the better team in that game, but Vinicius Jr rose to the challenge after Morocco’s early goal, cutting in from the left with sumptuous footwork before finding the back of the net with a crisp shot.
It’s that ability to be a dominant force from the left side of the field that has made the 25-year-old among the best players in the world.
That ability to torment rival defences was first noticed by local coaches on the impoverished streets of São Gonçalo, a municipality in Rio de Janeiro, where Vinicius Jr used to play barefoot from the age of six.
Word spread about his rare talent, and soon he was in the books of a local team connected with Flamengo, the famous Brazilian club.
He rose through the youth ranks before moving across the Atlantic to join Real Madrid in 2018.
He wasn’t an instant hit in Madrid, but the prodigious teenager eventually found his feet.
Now Vinicius Jr is a three-time La Liga winner and two-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid and a 2024 Ballon d’Or runner-up.
While his talent for the beautiful game earned him accolades, it wasn’t enough to protect him from racist fans in Spain, with the Brazilian regularly facing ‘monkey chants’.
For the record, Vinicius Jr has faced racist abuse as many as 20 times in his eight years at Real Madrid.
Refusing to keep quiet on this highly sensitive issue, Vinicius Jr strongly condemned the football authorities for not doing enough to combat racism.
Instead of standing by one of the best players in the world, some in Spain ridiculed him, even asking him to concentrate on his football and let the governing body do its job.
But Vinicius Jr didn’t give up his fight, taking his battle to the court after a black effigy of him was seen hanging from a bridge.
When the abusers were given a jail sentence in 2024, Vinicius Jr wrote an emotional message on social media.
“Many people asked me to ignore it, others said that my fight was in vain and that I should just ‘play football’,” he wrote on X.
“But, as I’ve always said, I’m not a victim of racism. I am an executioner of racists. This first criminal conviction in Spanish history is not for me. It’s for all black people.”
Having seen poverty in his childhood, Vinicius Jr knows what it is like to be at the receiving end of life’s vagaries.
In 2021, he launched Instituto Vini Jr, an organisation that provides school education for Brazilian children born into poverty.
But it’s the beautiful game of football that has allowed him to raise his voice for a cause and to help people in need.
Now what Brazil needs from him is his magic from the left side of the field, the marauding runs and the bagful of tricks which can unlock the best of defences.
On Monday, Brazil begin their World Cup knockout campaign against Japan in the round of 32.
The East Asian nation was inspired to start a football revolution in the 1990s by Brazilian icon Zico, who helped the country’s football federation launch the J League.
But their football system is now deeply influenced by the pragmatic European tactical approach.
An Asian team shaped by European football philosophy is now the first obstacle for Brazil and Ancelotti on their path to glory.
To overcome the resolute Japanese team, Brazil need Vinicius Jr on top of his game.
The dazzling winger was barely two when Brazil last won a World Cup.
Now he is an anti-racism icon who is leading the Samba Kings’ bid for a record-extending sixth World Cup title.
Source: Khaleej Times