Carlo Ancelotti has restored belief, but can Brazil end 24-year World Cup drought?

Since the last time they held the World Cup aloft, Brazil have reached the semifinal just once (AP Photo)

Brazil’s World Cup drought, running 24 years, has turned Brazil’s fans fatalists, increasingly reading into the dots of destiny and accident of fate. Their previous longest wait for World Cup glory was 24 years too, and it ended on American soil too. The last time the tournament was co-hosted (by Japan and South Korea in 2002), they won it too. In 1970, they played with a front four; so have they during the reign of Carlo Ancelotti, the Italian resorted to bring the glory back to football’s spiritual home, after their worst ever qualifying campaign. He has resurrected belief and inspired faith, brought calm into a dressing room prone to volatility, but Brazil don’t arrive in New Jersey as tournament favourites.

Read Sandip G on Brazil’s 24-year-long drought