Ancelotti: Brazil on the right track for World Cup despite Bolivia upset

Carlo Ancelotti believes that Brazil are on the right track for next year's World Cup despite closing out their qualifying campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Bolivia. 

Ancelotti watched on as Miguel Terceros' first-half penalty ensured Bolivia finished in seventh place in the standings, thus qualifying for the intercontinental play-offs. 

With Brazil having already qualified for the tournament taking place across the United States, Canada and Mexico, they struggled to maintain any kind of rhythm on Tuesday. 

Indeed, Brazil managed an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.36 from their 10 shots, only three of which were on target, compared to Bolivia's 1.78 from their 23 attempts. 

The result marked Ancelotti's first defeat since taking charge of the Selecao in May, with the Italian having replaced Dorival Junior following a poor run of form.

Ancelotti oversaw Brazil's final four games of qualifying, picking up two wins against Paraguay and Chile and a draw against Ecuador, but that did not detract from their poor displays throughout.

Brazil endured their worst campaign in their history in South American qualifiers (52% success rate), but their second-worst (56% in 2002) ended with their last World Cup title. 

"Today was a difficult game, both technically and physically," Ancelotti said following the defeat. "We're on the right track for the World Cup.

"A special game in every sense. A unique game. We'll prepare well for the upcoming matches and arrive at the World Cup in good shape."

With Brazil's place at the World Cup assured ahead of facing Bolivia, Ancelotti opted to make nine changes to his line-up, with Alisson and Bruno Guimaraes the only survivors from their 3-0 win against Chile. 

Fellow Premier League trip Andrey Santos, Lucas Paqueta, and Richarlison were all called in to feature from the start, along with a new-look backline of Caio Henrique, Alexsandro Ribeiro, Fabricio Bruno and Vitinho. 

"All the players in this group will have new opportunities because they worked very well all week," Ancelotti said of his changes. 

"I wanted to use this match to get to know some of the players, and that’s what happened."

However, the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation, Samir Xaud, launched a scathing attack against a range of different targets following the defeat. 

"A real mess today. It's not what we expect for world football or South American football. What we want is to make it even bigger," Xaud said.

"With this kind of attitude, especially at altitude, it's difficult to play football, especially against 14 men.

"I hope CONMEBOL takes action, precisely because we have everything recorded. This can't happen. This is absurd.

"What happened here today is sad. We came to play soccer, and what we saw was a bad game."