Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti has said that the team management went through some statistics from the past year and it said that Bruno Guimarães was the best option available at hand to take the penalty,
which the latter eventually missed and it became a telling moment in Brazil’s Round of 16 loss to Norway.
Guimarães was preferred over Vinícius Júnior to take Brazil’s first penalty, but his tame, stuttering effort was saved by Norwegian goalkeeper Orjan Nyland. With Guimarães substituted and Brazil trailing 0-2 deep into stoppage time, substitute Neymar stepped up ahead of Vinícius once again and converted from the spot.
Brazil’s 1-2 loss to Norway marked its earliest FIFA World Cup exit since 1990. Speaking after the game, Ancelotti revealed Brazil’s planned order of penalty takers, explaining that the decisions were driven by statistical analysis.
“We did some stats from a year of the rival players and also ours. The best in the Seleção was Raphinha. Among those available, the best was Neymar, then Igor Thiago, then Bruno Guimarães and then [Gabriel] Martinelli,” Ancelotti said.
“We chose Bruno Guimaraes because we thought he was the best on the field [to take it],” Ancelotti added.
Raphinha missed the Round of 16 match due to injury, while Neymar and Thiago were on the bench.
Assistant coach Davide Ancelotti, the son of Ancelotti, echoed his father’s stance.
“It is a predefined decision just like in all games. We always communicate beforehand with the player who will take the penalty. It is a decision by the coaching staff,” Davide said.
“Missing a penalty happens in football, and today it happened,” the assistant coach added.
Erling Haaland struck twice after the break to seal the win for Norway, first towering above Gabriel Magalhães to head home before unleashing a thunderous long-range effort from outside the box.
Notably, Brazil have now reached six editions without winning the FIFA World Cup, something that had never before happened with the team.
