Ancelotti warns Brazil to toughen up after defeat to Japan / Photo: Yuichi YAMAZAKI - AFP
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Ancelotti warns Brazil to toughen up after defeat to Japan
Coach Carlo Ancelotti said Brazil "mentally collapsed" in their 3-2 friendly defeat to Japan on Tuesday and warned that they need to learn from their mistakes before the World Cup.
Brazil threw away a two-goal lead as Japan came roaring back in the second half in Tokyo, with Ancelotti's men helpless in the face of the home side's pressure.
A mistake in the Brazil defence for Japan's first goal opened the floodgates, and Ancelotti said his players were not strong enough to turn it around.
"Brazil didn't have the attitude in the second half to stop Japan's reaction," said the Italian.
"I am very clear about what happened, that the team mentally collapsed after the first mistake.
"This was the team's biggest mistake."
It was Ancelotti's second defeat since taking over in May, following a 1-0 away loss to Bolivia in World Cup qualifying.
Brazil arrived in Tokyo fresh from a 5-0 thrashing of South Korea and they turned on the style again in a sparkling first-half performance.
Paulo Henrique and Gabriel Martinelli both scored to put the five-times world champions comfortably ahead at the break.
Japan came roaring back after half-time with goals from Takumi Minamino, Keito Nakamura and Ayase Ueda to give their country their first win over Brazil.
"We lost a bit of a good attitude and positive thinking," said Ancelotti.
"The mistakes had an influence on the team."
Ancelotti is bidding to become the first foreign-born coach to win the World Cup at next year's tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
He vowed to keep experimenting with his line-up and said individual mistakes would not cost players their places in the squad.
Ancelotti said it was "better to make these mistakes now than at the World Cup".
"We need to learn from the mistakes we made in the second half," he said.
H.Anand--MT
