Brazil have arrived in Queensland ahead of their highly anticipated two-match series against the CommBank Socceroos, with Carlo Ancelotti’s squad beginning its preparations in Brisbane before travelling north to Townsville.
Ancelotti and his coaching staff arrived in Australia on Saturday, with the first players joining the Brazilian delegation in Brisbane on Sunday. Left-back Douglas Santos was the first member of the playing squad to report to camp, while more players continued to arrive over the following two days.
The journey to Queensland proved demanding for several members of the squad. Bruno Guimarães and Gabriel Magalhães, travelling from Europe, had their flight diverted to Sydney because of heavy fog in Brisbane before eventually reaching the Queensland capital. Some players faced journeys approaching 30 hours from Europe, while those travelling from Brazil faced trips of up to 40 hours.
With the squad arriving in stages, Ancelotti initially worked with only a small group before Brazil held its first on-field training session at Ballymore Stadium on Tuesday.
The opening session was deliberately light, with the players focusing on recovery and adapting to the significant time difference between Australia and their home bases.
Eleven players took part in the field session, including Bruno Guimarães, Raphinha, Estêvão, Rayan, Douglas Santos, Danilo Santos, Jair, Gabriel Bontempo, Vitor Reis and Pedro Morisco, while 17-year-old goalkeeper Gabriel Menegon joined the group to assist with the goalkeeping work.
Gabriel Magalhães remained in the gym as part of an individual workload programme, having accumulated a heavy amount of playing time for Arsenal this season.
Several of Brazil’s biggest names, including Vinícius Júnior, Endrick and Marquinhos, were still due to arrive as the squad continued to assemble in Brisbane. The full 26-man group is expected to be together by Wednesday.
Brazil will remain in Brisbane until Thursday before travelling by chartered flight to Townsville for the opening match against Australia at Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Friday, September 25.
The two sides will meet again at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on September 29, completing the Queensland Football Series.
For Ancelotti, the Queensland camp marks the beginning of Brazil’s new post-World Cup cycle, with the experienced Italian coach using the Australian tour to begin assessing his squad ahead of the next phase of international competition.
