New Jersey, July 6 (IANS) Coach Carlo Ancelotti lamented Brazil’s shock exit from the 2026 FIFA World Cup after losing to Norway but stated that this loss is “not an end” but the “beginning of the new adventure”.

Brazil created several chances, missed a penalty when the score was 0-0, and ended up conceding two goals from Haaland in the second half. A late Neymar penalty, coming in the tenth minute of stoppage time, was nothing more than a consolation as Brazil made their earliest World Cup exit since 1990, while Norway reached the last eight for the first time.

The five-time champions are knocked out after finishing the initial phase in first place in Group C – drawing with Morocco and winning against Haiti and Scotland and also after eliminating Japan in the round of 32 with a 2-1 victory.

“It’s obvious that we are all deeply saddened because the team had, until now, not a spectacular World Cup but a good one. I think that in today’s game we could also have deserved to win. When a moment like this happens, you have to think that a defeat is the beginning of a new adventure. I believe that this defeat is not an end, it is the beginning of a new cycle,” he said.

Faced with an early exit from the World Cup, Ancelotti explained that he and his coaching staff will have to manage this defeat and focus on the cycle leading up to the next World Cup.

“We will continue working for the national team, trying to improve and seek new ideas. The same thing we did this year. I think the work was good, football is like that, sometimes you have to manage the sadness of a defeat. I’m used to that. We will manage this defeat with a new impetus to the work and in the evaluation of the players,” he concluded.

Before Monday’ s game, Brazil had played 11 matches in the Round of 16, winning nine, drawing one and losing one. Their solitary defeat was 1-0 to arch-enemies Argentina in 1990, when a mesmerising Diego Maradona dribble set up Claudio Caniggia for the only goal. Brazil’s draw came on home soil in 2014, though they ultimately overcame Chile on penalties.

–IANS

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