Carlo Ancelotti criticised the referee after Brazil were beaten 3-2 by Japan in a friendly, saying the official’s decisions influenced the result and that he lacked the experience to handle a match of that level.
The Brazil head coach was sent off in stoppage time, along with Raphinha, after Japan scored their third goal. Brazil had protested that Joao Gomes may have been fouled during the build-up to the decisive attack.
Ancelotti said the referee told him he had failed to control the substitutes’ bench before showing him a red card.
“He told me that I had not been able to control the bench, and that is why he showed me the red card,” Ancelotti said at his post-match news conference.
The Italian believed Brazil had played well for much of the match, but acknowledged that their attacking approach had left them more exposed defensively.
“I think we played well for 70 minutes, and that is what we want to achieve,” he said. “As part of the test we wanted to carry out, we became more vulnerable defensively because we wanted to press higher up the pitch.”
Ancelotti said Brazil had lacked defensive cover and balance early in the game, while some players appeared to stop participating because they expected the referee to award fouls.
“Our analysis shows that we did not start well,” he added. “We did not have the defensive cover we needed and we lacked balance. The team would stop playing because it thought the referee was going to award fouls.”
Brazil recovered from conceding twice to level the score and could have completed the turnaround late on, with Endrick going close to scoring a winner.
“We managed to score two goals and get back to 2-2. We could have won the game in the final minutes through Endrick,” Ancelotti said. “It is disappointing to finish with this result.”
Despite his criticism, Ancelotti said he did not want the referee to carry all the blame.
“There are many positives, and some players were making their first appearances,” he said. “We showed good quality, but the result was affected by the referee’s approach because he was not awarding fouls.
“However, I do not want to blame him alone. This was a high-level match and he did not have the experience required to officiate a game of this type.”
Brazil are using the current international break to develop a group that includes several new players, with another friendly against Singapore to come.
“The objective is to develop the players who are taking part,” Ancelotti said. “We have new players who joined during this period. I said yesterday that I am pleased with the young players, and in March we will reduce the size of the squad somewhat.”
He added: “I am satisfied with what we produced on the pitch. We did not start well, but we responded well afterwards, equalised and then tried to win.”