Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Not every fan of the Socceroos is a fan of Tony Popovic – the way his teams play, the way he approaches selection, the way he seems insistent on turning Nestory Irankunda into a striker, or even, on occasion, the way he carries himself.
If that’s you, Carlo Ancelotti politely disagrees.
It turns out that arguably the greatest manager to have ever sat in a dugout is a big fan of Popovic – and they go way, way back.
Before Popovic had even hung up his boots as a player, he had decided he would become a coach, and was searching high and low for nuggets of wisdom even then. Through the connections of former Socceroos teammate Zeljko Kalac, who played under Ancelotti at AC Milan, Popovic managed to spend several off-seasons inside the Italian club, quietly observing the way the coach went about his business and taking notes.
Ancelotti remembered. The pair were reunited years later when the Italian was at Bayern Munich – and then, before the World Cup draw last year, as fate would have it, they landed on the same table at a meeting of national team coaches, this time as equals.
Well, “equals” only in a sense. As a five-time UEFA Champions League winner, and the only man to have won a title in all of Europe’s “top five” leagues, who is now in charge of five-time World Cup winners Brazil, Ancelotti has no true equal.
It is customary for visiting footballing dignitaries to shower the Australian game and those in it with praise whenever they are asked to do so, even if they know nothing about it. But Ancelotti, 67, delivered a glowing assessment of Popovic, his Socceroos and their campaign at the recent World Cup – and seemed to actually mean it.
“We are good friends,” Ancelotti said on Thursday, as his Brazilian team arrived in Townsville for the first of their two-match friendly series against the Socceroos.
“Sometimes we have the possibility to meet together, to talk about football. We spent time together when I was in Milan, we spent time together in Brisbane two nights ago. It’s a pleasure to talk about football [with him]. He’s doing a fantastic job here. He’s a really passionate manager, I hope for him the best.
“I think the World Cup that he did was a really good World Cup, the team showed strong quality … a fantastic team, really compact, strong defensively with a fantastic attack. They won a fantastic game against Turkey. They lost on penalties against Egypt. In modern football, there are no easy games. You have to prepare well, you have to respect the rival, and do your best.”
Needless to say, the admiration is mutual.
“His coaching record speaks for itself,” Popovic said. “He knows what it takes to be the best. I’ve always loved his demeanour. I’ve loved the way his team played at AC Milan. I love the way he dealt with those big personalities, and how he could put a team together, and I’ve always admired that about him. I know that Brazil will be one special unit with Mr Ancelotti in charge.”
All the niceties, however, must now be parked. Even though Friday night’s showdown at the Queensland Country Bank Stadium is only a friendly, it marks the start of a new World Cup cycle for both nations. As Ancelotti also said, Brazil don’t really do friendlies. Every game matters for them, no matter the opponent, and especially for the thousands of players around the world competing to pull on that famous shirt.
For the Socceroos, there is a major tournament around the corner, and therefore Popovic has much to do. His squad for these matches includes seven potential debutants and only one recognised striker, Tete Yengi, after Norwich City star Mohamed Toure was ruled out with a shoulder injury – which probably means, much to the chagrin of some, that Irankunda will spend more time up front and not on the wing.
Though the noises out of Norwich are that Toure’s injury could require surgery and potentially sideline him for January’s Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia, Popovic said the extent was not yet clear.
“We’re still in the process of understanding what is the best action,” he said.
“Is it surgery or is it a conservative rehabilitation? And I think his club is going through that process.
“Hopefully Mo will be back [for the Asian Cup]. If he’s not, unfortunately, we know that’s part of football. We’ve experienced a lot of this since we’ve started with long-term injuries, but we feel we have talent that can cover or come through, and we can have a nice surprise with a different player in that position.
“And obviously, we wish Mo a speedy recovery. He was in fantastic form, and we’d love to see him back soon.”
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