Ancelotti clears Casemiro of blame for Japan's World Cup goal

Brazil beat Japan 2-1 this Monday (29), in Houston, and secured a place in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup. After the match, coach Carlo Ancelotti came to the defense of Casemiro, the target of criticism for his performance in the first half.

The midfielder was pointed out by some of the fans as one of those responsible for the Japanese goal, after failing to keep up with Sano's rush, who took advantage of an error in Danilo's pass to open the score. Ancelotti, however, ruled out that the move was an individual error by Casemiro.

"I didn't speak to him because he was acting. Everyone can make mistakes. I don't think Japan's goal was a mistake by Casemiro. We failed to get the ball out. Casemiro played a very good game, and the equalizing goal was decisive for the game", he said.

Despite the performance below expectations in the initial stage, Casemiro grew in performance in the second half. The midfielder scored with a header in the 11th minute of the final stage and started the Brazilian reaction, which ended with a 2-1 victory.

Yellowish before the break, the number 5 even showed signs that he could be replaced, as happened in his debut against Morocco. Ancelotti, however, chose to keep him on the field. The decision proved to be the right one: in addition to being decisive in the turnaround, Casemiro was elected the best player of the match in a vote promoted by FIFA.

In an interview after the match, Casemiro revealed that the Italian coach asked for "calm" during the break, justifying that the team maintained control of the game.

"We had control of the game. It's true that, in the first half, we didn't manage to get that close to their goal, but we were in total control of the game. In the second half, 'Mister' asked for calm, because we were pressing, massacring, with high pressure, and the opportunities were going to arise", he stated.

With classification guaranteed, Brazil will return to the field on Sunday, July 5th, at 5pm (Brasília time), to face Norway or Ivory Coast. The match will be played in New Jersey.

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Source: CNN