World Cup 2026: Brazil suffer 45 minutes of humiliation – but ‘Clever Carlo’ does it again

The personnel remained mostly the same, but it was a different Brazil team in the second half.

Their play lacked the purpose and intensity of the first half and there were several tactical changes, especially the desire to get the ball into the box.

Despite having 12 shots in the first half, Brazil tried to break down the complex Japanese backline with the short passing you generally expect from the South American side.

In the second, that was forgotten when they put 28 crosses into the box. It takes into account six minutes of stopping time, which is less than two minutes per cross.

Japan struggled to cope when runners reached the defenders’ blind spots at the back post and it was little surprise that Casemiro’s equalizer came with this simple but effective trick.

“The changes made by Carlo Ancelotti at half-time made a difference,” former England defender Stephen Warnock told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Japan couldn’t handle their balls in the box.”

Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton added: “It’s a matter of finding a way. Brazil’s experience and good in the tank are enough to knock a Japanese team out of the World Cup.”

There’s a romanticism to the idea of ​​Brazil playing aggressive, carefree football, and Ancelotti isn’t a coach who wants to dispel that – but he knows that sometimes winning requires a different approach.

“The only acceptable result is a victory. Is football enough? We cannot be satisfied with what we are doing,” he added.

“We were a step forward? This was a more complete game that we played. We had more problems in the first half because Japan was coming in strong. We won in the second half.

“I believe this is definitely an evolution. We struggled to get a place at first, but we managed to solve this problem very well.”