Ancelotti names Brazil line-up for friendly with Australia in Townsville

Head coach Carlo Ancelotti announced the Seleção lineup for the first friendly against Australia during a press conference this Thursday (24) in Townsville. This Friday (25), Brazil will take the field with: Hugo Souza; Matheuzinho, Marquinhos, Vitor Reis and Douglas Santos; Danilo Santos and Bruno Guimarães; Raphinha, Estêvão, Endrick and Vinicius Junior.

Brazil will face the hosts in a match kicking off at 7 a.m. Brasília time (8 p.m. local time) at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, where center-back Vitor Reis and right-back Matheuzinho will make their debuts.

This will be the first of the Seleção’s three matches during the Super FIFA window. On Tuesday (29), Ancelotti’s team will face the Australians again, this time in Brisbane, and will play India on October 3 in Kolkata.

Carlo Ancelotti during a press conference with the Seleção in Townsville, ahead of the first friendly against Australia in the Super FIFA windowCredits: Rafael Ribeiro/CBF

According to the coach, although this is Brazil’s first commitment since the World Cup, his work did not undergo a break after the team’s elimination from the tournament, but rather continued with the arrival of “quality young players.”

“We have an important FIFA window. We have new players, new young players. It’s not that we’re starting a new project; we’re continuing the work done over the past year and trying to improve. The group is good, we have quality young players. I think these matches here in Australia are very good opportunities for the young players we have here. Some of them haven’t had many chances to play and can get minutes with the national team,” he explained.

Ancelotti also rejected the word friendly to describe these upcoming matches. He sees each game as an opportunity to observe new players with an eye on the 2028 Copa América and the 2030 World Cup.

“For us, it’s difficult to say friendly. For Brazil, it’s never a friendly. It’s an important match, a new season. Our goal is to find new players, a new generation of players for the next World Cup and Copa América. We’ll begin with tomorrow’s match,” he concluded.

TV Globo, sportv, ge tv and Globoplay will broadcast Friday’s Brazil vs. Australia match (25) from Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville, Australia, at 7 a.m. Brasília time (8 p.m. local time).

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.