Carlo Ancelotti is swapping Real Madrid for Brazil in one of the biggest moves in world football. The problem is, neither he, nor Madrid, want to talk about it. As coaching switches go, they don’t come any bigger than this.
But when news broke on Monday that team to take charge of its most successful and iconic national team, there was an awkward silence.
Madrid chose to ignore the announcement by the Brazilian soccer federation and was still to publicly acknowledge it 24 hours later.
There was silence, too, from Ancelotti, who didn’t even provide a quote for his new employer when it published its official statement.
That left an uncomfortable vacuum until Ancelotti finally confirmed his departure during a scheduled news conference on Tuesday, which he only took part in because he was supposed to preview Madrid’s upcoming match against Mallorca.
“If I didn’t have this news conference today it would have been a fantastic day. But in this news conference I have to explain things that I don’t want to explain,” the Italian coach said.
Bad timing?
Becoming coach of record five-time world champion Brazil should be among the proudest moments of Ancelotti’s career. He will be the first foreign coach of Brazil at a World Cup — taking charge of the team of Pele, Ronaldo and Neymar; and the most iconic yellow jersey in soccer.
But even for Ancelotti — who is famed for his cool demeanor on the sideline, cigar smoking and the odd raised eyebrow — his reaction has been understated.
The 65-year-old Ancelotti — who has won a record five Champions League titles as a coach — begins his new job later this month with a view to leading Brazil to next year’s World Cup.
With three more rounds of the Spanish season to go, Ancelotti said he did not want “anybody asking me about other things, because I respect this jersey a lot and I want to respect it until the last day.”
Muted Madrid
The announcement came after Madrid’s 4-3 loss to Barcelona over the weekend all but confirmed the defending Spanish champion would surrender its league title.
Barcelona needs just two points to be crowned champion and can complete the job against Espanyol on Thursday.
Ancelotti’s exit has been long-trailed, with departing Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso widely expected to replace him. So news of the deal will not have come as a surprise to Madrid, which was involved in the negotiations to release Ancelotti early from a contract that had another year to run.
But its silence has been notable, with no messages of congratulations or thanks to a coach that won two Champions League titles and the Spanish title in his second spell at the club.
Ancelotti also coached Madrid from 2013-15, which saw him win another Champions League.
Despite Ancelotti’s future being confirmed, Madrid has not been pushed into responding with an announcement of its own succession plans.
“Real Madrid will release the statement when they want. There’s no problem whatsoever. They’ll do it at the appropriate time for Real Madrid and there’s nothing further to add,” Ancelotti said.
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