Well then. After the Tite era ended in such, uh, infuriating fashion in the quarterfinals of the World Cup, Brazil is about to take to the field with its first new manager in charge since 2016. Tite was, for all his many faults, clearly the outstanding Brazilian coach of his time—which is maybe less a credit to him than an indictment of his competition—and lacking any obvious successor, the CBF has a choice between two unorthodox options: either they hand the Seleção over to a fresh but unproven Brazilian manager and hope that his new ideas and skillset can overcome his lack of experience in the global game à la Lionel Scaloni for Argentina; or they bite the bullet, acknowledge that there is no Brazilian manager who has proven himself at the highest levels of the game, and hire a foreign coach for the first time in Brazil’s history.

Right now, they seem to be splitting the difference. Leading the team in Saturday’s game against Morocco is Ramon Menezes, a man who, before he led the under-20 side to victory in the South American Youth Championship last month, had achieved little distinction as a coach. But it seems very likely that he will be nothing more than a stopgap option, as rumors have Carlo Ancelotti leaving Real Madrid to take the job in the summer. Except that may not be finalized yet and the CBF may still be keeping tabs on the likes of Jorge Jesus, José Mourinho (ugh), and even some Brazilian coaches like Fernando Diniz.

For now, though, Ramon has the reins. What did he do with them? Well, he kind of made the case for avoiding another Brazilian coach:

The Squad

Goalkeepers: Ederson (Manchester City), Mycael (Athletico-PR), Weverton (Palmeiras).

Full-backs: Arthur (América-MG), Emerson Royal (Tottenham), Alex Telles (Sevilla), Renan Lodi (Nottingham Forest).

Center-backs: Ibañez (Roma), Éder Militão (Real Madrid), Bremer (Juventus), Robert Renan (Zenit).

Midfielders: André (Fluminense), Andrey Santos (Vasco), Casemiro (Manchester United), João Gomes (Wolverhampton), Lucas Paquetá (West Ham), Raphael Veiga (Palmeiras).

Forwards: Antony (Manchester United), Yuri Alberto (Corinthians), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Rony (Palmeiras), Vini Júnior (Real Madrid), Vitor Roque (Athletico-PR).

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