Caio Ribeiro discusses Neymar’s inclusion in Ancelotti’s preliminary squad
Next Monday, when Carlo Ancelotti announces the 26 players called up for the World Cup, Brazilian fans will face disappointment. The squad list will be discouraging no matter what—whether Neymar, Pedro, or Endrick is included or not.
It will be disheartening because the current moment is also bleak, and that is not Ancelotti’s fault. He will be cast as the bearer of bad news—a reality that doesn’t depend solely on him and would frustrate even under other coaches.
But he will face criticism. It’s like the old legend of King Darius III of Persia, who, upon learning he had lost the war to Alexander the Great, panicked and killed the poor messenger.
What matters is the message: we don’t have the luxury of past squads. I don’t think this generation is terrible, but it carries chronic problems, such as in the full-back positions. These gaps make it inferior to most previous generations.
I’d also like to see the national team without names like Danilo and Alex Sandro. But I, like Ancelotti will do, would call them up now—either because the tested alternatives haven’t worked in the long run, or because rising names (like Luciano Juba of Bahia and Kaiki Bruno of Cruzeiro) might not be ready for a World Cup.
As the 55-player pre-list is unveiled, it’s easy to point out who shouldn’t be on it. I have my own objections—for example, Richarlison of Tottenham and Samuel Lino of Flamengo. The hard part is finding that magical, indisputable name to replace them. That’s the beauty of debate: your alternative to some absurdity on the list will sound absurd to someone else.
Given all this, Ancelotti’s pre-list seems quite sensible—and I believe the final call-up will be too. Even some names that haven’t been appearing in the national team (and will likely be cut) make sense, such as goalkeeper Weverton of Grêmio and defender Thiago Silva of Porto.
A World Cup squad, after all, should not only reflect the last three months. It must also consider factors like experience, consistency, and reliability. Ancelotti seems aware of that.
There isn’t much room to maneuver. Managing expectations will be a way to cope with the frustration. We are not favorites, we don’t have the best squad, we lack cohesive teamwork, our chemistry is shaky, we wasted nearly an entire cycle, and we depend on some alchemy between declining players, developing athletes, and names that perform far better for their clubs than for the national team. It’s this, more than the names on the list, that fuels our sense of discouragement.
