Ancelotti explains why he dropped Real Madrid winger from NT call up – ‘Must be 100% physically’ | OneFootball

Despite having been the Real Madrid coach just months ago, Carlo Ancelotti has made it very clear that he carries forward no favours to the club in his new stint as the manager of the Brazilian national team.

In fact, the coach has excluded three Real Madrid players from his call-up for the upcoming international break with Vinicius Jr, Eder Militao and Rodrygo all missing.

The former is out of the coach’s plans given his suspension for one game, but the latter duo appear to be out given their lack of minutes at the club level.

Ancelotti’s clear stance

Speaking to the media recently, the former Real Madrid manager made his conditions to play for the national team very clear and admitted that the reason he did not call up Rodrygo was a lack of playing time at the club level.

“Explaining to Rodrygo & Neymar my decision? They perfectly know the idea of the NT. They have to play and be in good physical condition,” he said.

Rodrygo has been excluded from the national team call up. (Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)

He then made it clear that his policy was set and that no player could bypass that requirement.

“If they want explanations, they can call me. I think Rodrygo has my number, I don’t know if Neymar does, but he probably does.”

Finally, Ancelotti highlighted the soft spot he maintains for Rodrygo and how the player can surely make a comeback to the national team.

“I have a lot of love for Rodrygo. Yesterday he played very well for Real Madrid.

“It was his first game after a long time, so he still has time to recover and return to the national team.”

“A player who plays in the NT must be 100% physically. It’s important,” he added.

Source: ESPN Brazil