Real Madrid tactician Carlo Ancelotti has agreed to take over the Brazilian national team, numerous Spanish media outlets reported on Monday.
The experienced Italian has one year left on his contract with the Spanish giants, but after being knocked out of the Champions League quarter-finals by Arsenal and losing the Copa del Rey to rivals Barcelona, he is set to leave Santiago Bernabeu.
Ancelotti has not veiled the possibility of a departure, stating that his future would be “a topic for the next weeks” following Saturday’s defeat to Barcelona.According to Spanish media, Ancelotti will take charge before the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in June, leaving Madrid before the Club World Cup starts in the United States this summer.
Brazil fired Dorival Junior following a 4-1 defeat by Argentina in March and is currently fourth in the South American qualifying standings for the tournament in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Ancelotti guided Real Madrid to the Champions League and La Liga double last season, with Brazil’s Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes playing key roles, and is one of the club’s most successful coaches in history.
During his first term with Real Madrid, he led them to La Decima, their tenth Champions League victory.
He won the competition three times with Los Blancos in two stints, was fired in 2015, but returned in 2021 after Zinedine Zidane quit.
Madrid has been defensively vulnerable this season, trailing La Liga leaders Barcelona by four points, with a championship defence their sole remaining hope for a major trophy.
Ancelotti has also coached AC Milan, Chelsea, and Paris Saint-Germain, among other clubs.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Anthony Odiong: Nigerian Catholic priest sentenced to life in prison over sexual assault")
