Carlo Ancelotti remained composed following Brazil's 2-1 victory over Japan on Monday, asserting he never doubted his team's ability to rebound. He emphasized their ongoing improvement, stating, "At half-time I told the players to be patient because sooner or later we would score. What was important was to keep our structure. We know we’re going down the right path and we have to continue on this path."

Brazil faced a scare when Kaishu Sano put Japan ahead in the first half, raising concerns about their chances of reaching the last 16 of the World Cup for the first time. However, Casemiro equalized, and Gabriel Martinelli, who came on as a substitute, netted a stoppage-time winner. This marked the first instance of Brazil coming from behind to win a knockout match since defeating England in the 2002 quarter-final.

Ancelotti noted, "At first we were trying to achieve superiority in midfield, to infiltrate. It didn’t work because their marking was really tight. They were really closed off. We changed at the interval to try to penetrate their area a little more."

He also hinted at using Neymar if the situation required, stating he would consider bringing him on if they didn’t equalize soon. Currently, Neymar has only seen 15 minutes of action as a substitute against Scotland.

Despite Japan deserving their half-time lead, Ancelotti claimed this was Brazil's best performance yet, saying, "This was by far the most complete game that we’ve played. You have to suffer, that’s part of it. Suffering is part of the game, as is relief."