Real Madrid fans are rooting for Brazil even more than they are Spain these days with Carlo Ancelotti as the manager and several Madrid players, old and new, in the squad. But whereas Spain dominated the World Cup and controlled games en route to winning it all, Brazil were out in the Round of 16 and massive disappointments again.
While Vinicius Junior had a great tournament, most of the other Brazil players did not, particularly in that defeat to Norway in the Round of 16. And there are several players in the old guard of Brazil who are not useful to the team, not any better than the young players who could get experience, and are simply taking a spot based on reputation.
The most prominent of those cases is Neymar, whose ego and petulance in his late career threaten to ruin his legacy. He came into the game against Norway, and while Carlo won't outright admit it was a mistake, everyone knows that Carlo did not want Ney in the squad at all; the federation forced his hand. And Neymar was a disaster, taking the ball away from Vinicius Jr. and making the Brazil attack even weaker.
Casemiro is part of the finished old guard
Speaking in public, via DataFut, Carlo Ancelotti admitted that not only is the cycle of Neymar with the Selecao now over going forward, but also former Real Madrid players Casemiro and Danilo will no longer be called up to the Brazil national team in the future.
Ancelotti said, "I think with this World Cup, a generation of very important players comes to an end. Starting with Neymar. Passing through Danilo, Casemiro, all those players who were over 30 years old at the World Cup."
Out of these three players, Danilo and Casemiro were much more useful to Brazil than Neymar. Danilo actually played better than the other fullbacks on Brazil, though since he is finished at the highest level, it was really more about the incompetence he was compared to than Danilo being especially brilliant.
Meanwhile, Casemiro was a disaster, and though Manchester United fans love to poke fun at Jamie Carragher for basically telling him to retire, Real Madrid have felt this way about Case ever since 2022 when they sold him to Old Trafford in the first place. There's a reason why he is headed to Inter Miami, and the Brazil national team has no use for an aging player in their starting lineup as the No. 6, no matter how much some fans, including Madridistas, may love him.
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