Zico says Ancelotti just the man to take Brazil back to the top

KASHIMA, Japan: Carlo Ancelotti’s track record of getting the most out of Brazilian players makes him the best man to take the national team back to the top, football legend Zico told AFP.
The Italian Ancelotti has vowed to make five-time World Cup winners Brazil champions again next year after becoming the first non-Brazilian to coach the side in six decades.
He nurtured Brazilians such as Vinicius Junior at Real Madrid, helping to turn the 24-year-old from a figure of fun because of his inconsistent end product into one of the Spanish league’s biggest stars.
Zico is one of the best players ever to pull on Brazil’s iconic yellow shirt and believes Ancelotti’s understanding and experience make him the ideal man for the job.
“Ancelotti played with Brazilian players, he has been a champion coach with Brazilian players at several teams and he’s always praised Brazilian players and put them in a position to help him,” Zico told AFP in Japan, where the 72-year-old is an adviser to J.

League club Kashima Antlers.
“He has a great understanding, he loves football and his approach to football is very much in line with Brazilian thinking.
“So I think he can be successful for this reason, he can help Brazilian players thrive with his knowledge, his ability and his expertise.”
At 65, Ancelotti has five Champions League titles under his belt and has managed the cream of Europe’s clubs including Juventus, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.
He is taking the reins of a national team for the first time and becomes Brazil’s first foreign-born manager since 1965.
Zico says Brazilian coaches are no longer in vogue around the world, pointing to declining numbers of his compatriots in former hotspots like