Carlo Ancelotti urges Brazil to learn manage pressure

Carlo Ancelotti believes Brazil must learn to manage the pressure if the record five-times champions want to end a 24-year wait to win the FIFA World Cup again.

Less than a month remains for the World Cup to start and all teams have almost completed their preparations. Meanwhile, Brazil’s coach Ancelotti said that his team may not be entering the tournament as favourites but they have all the ingredients to be successful if they learn to manage pressure.

"What I've noticed this year, to be honest, is that there's a lot of pressure; there's a lot of pressure on the players," Ancelotti told Reuters in an interview at the Brazilian FA's headquarters in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.

"What I think is that the players also put a lot of pressure on themselves, sometimes too much. So, the pressure and worry outweigh the joy, the energy that the Brazilians have, the creativity that the Brazilians have."

People think of Brazil’s recent World Cup exits due to tactical or football-related problems but Ancelotti believes there are psychological issues and he has seen them in recent friendlies.

"I've seen it in some friendlies... a mistake by a teammate in a friendly match seems like a tragedy," he said.

"We need to establish a routine to avoid all this, because pressure is obviously a very important factor. Managing pressure well means having more motivation and more camaraderie, because you can share the pressure. Then it weighs less heavily on you."

Carlo Ancelotti said that Brazil doesn’t need to change their identity but he wants to organise it better so that it can compete with modern football’s intensity.

"What Brazilian players and Brazilian football must not lose is their greatest quality: creativity, joy and energy," he said.

Brazil is in Group C this summer with Morocco, Haiti and Scotland. Brazil opens against Morocco on June 13 in East Rutherford, N.J.