HONG KONG :French World Cup winner Raphael Varane has backed his former Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti to lift Brazil out of the doldrums when the Italian takes over at the helm of the five-times World Cup winners later this month.
Ancelotti was named Brazil’s first permanent foreign coach last week and will start in his new role on May 26 on a contract that runs through to next year’s World Cup finals.
The five-times Champions League winning coach will lead the country into June’s South American qualifiers, and 2018 World Cup winner Varane believes Ancelotti has the pedigree to reinvigorate the squad following recent struggles.
“What I can say is that in football, in national teams, it’s about being at the top level with a very short period of time to prepare yourself to perform,” Varane told Reuters on the sidelines of the Hong Kong Soccer Sevens.
“So it’s a different challenge that you’re facing from the day-to-day with a club.
“But I think if you’re capable of winning trophies like the Champions League, and if you’re capable of raising your level for big games, then you’re capable of doing it anywhere, at any time.
“I think Carlo is a great coach. He has a lot of experience, so he knows how to prepare the players to perform at the right time.
“That’s the difficult thing. You have to meet with history. Every time (at the World Cup) it’s only one chance, so you can’t miss many opportunities. I think at the top level he knows how to do it.”
The former defender knows Ancelotti well after they shared two seasons at Real Madrid in the Italian’s first spell in charge and together they won the Champions League in 2014, one of four continental crowns Varane collected at the Bernabeu.
Brazil are currently fourth in the standings in the South American preliminaries, 10 points adrift of bitter rivals Argentina, who have already secured their berth at next year’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
While the Brazilians remain likely to qualify despite their faltering form, Varane was confident Ancelotti could raise standards to ensure the team are competitive at the finals.
“If he goes there, he knows how to do it, how to prepare the players, feeling comfortable and confident enough because we are talking about Brazil,” said Varane. “At that level the players have the quality, they just need to be together and confident.”
