It's hard to imagine what could make Carlo Ancelotti nervous. The veteran Italian coach has managed some of the most high-pressure clubs in the world, such as Madrid, Juve, and Chelsea. He has worked under the watchful eyes of Florentino Pérez, Silvio Berlusconi, or Roman Abramovich. He has learned how to talk to selfish young players and eccentric businessmen. He knows how to treat generous footballers and others who are selfish. It's hard to explain his favorite tactical system, but he knows how to manage people and motivate them. That's why he received the call from the Brazilian Football Confederation less than two years ago. Brazil, the national team that has won the World Cup the most times, entrusted him with the task of being great again. For the first time in history, Brazil is entering a World Cup with a foreign coach. Ancelotti doesn't seem nervous, though. He looks happy.

Football never tires of demonstrating that it encompasses politics, economics, and social issues, and that it is capable of changing the mood of a given society. For better or for worse. However, there are still many individuals who tend to look down on the followers of this sport with moral superiority, reducing it to 22 men or women running after a ball and to the expression "bread and circuses." This other part is also true, but it is only one aspect of the complexity of a game that, for example, has strong ties to philosophy. Former Olympic athlete Martí Perarnau (Barcelona, 1955), a specialist in the analysis of football from all its aspects, argues this in the book Football and its philosophy (Roca Editorial).

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has announced that Carlo Ancelotti will be its new national team coach starting May 26th. The Italian will finish La Liga (three matches remaining) with Real Madrid before packing his bags. Pending official confirmation, Xabi Alonso, who has managed German side Bayer Leverkusen for the last two seasons, will be the new Real Madrid coach. The former Basque midfielder was one of José Mourinho's most loyal students fifteen years ago. Florentino Pérez's plan is for him to coach Real Madrid as soon as this summer's Club World Cup.