Ancelotti looks to Brazil's future in Japan rematch

In Houston in June Gabriel Martinelli struck in the fifth minute of added time to give the Selecao a 2-1 win in a disappointing World Cup campaign which was ended by Norway in the quarter-finals.

Now Ancelotti is building for the future and his 26-man Brazil squad for matches against Japan this weekend and Singapore on Tuesday, includes 15 players under the age of 23.

"The World Cup closed a cycle for a generation of players," Ancelotti told reporters Friday.

"We are now building a new generation to be focused and competitive in our next official competitions: the Copa America in 2028 and the World Cup in 2030.

"I think we have a lot of potential. We are looking at young players, including some new players here, and we are very satisfied with what we are seeing.

"We have young players with a lot of quality and talent, so we look to the future with confidence."

The 67-year-old was reluctant to single out anyone for special praise.

"You see their attitude in training and how focused they are. All of them have given us a lot of confidence for the future because we can see that we have players with a lot of quality," he said.

"They may lack some experience, but that is normal for young players."

In-form Barcelona striker Raphinha will captain the team against Japan.

"My expectations are good. Obviously, we are going through a period of rebuilding with new players, but I see players with a lot of quality and a great desire to give everything they can for the national team shirt," said  Raphinha, who appeared in only two matches at the World Cup because of a hamstring injury.

"This is a match of World Cup calibre, as we saw at the last World Cup. It will be a very difficult game because we know the quality of Japan's national team."

Moriyasu, who is expected to be replaced by Japan under-23 coach Go Oiwa after the match against Paraguay in Singapore next Tuesday, meanwhile looked back at eight years in charge.

"There are many things that we managed to do, we managed to succeed, but there were also things that we couldn't do," said Moriyasu.

"I managed to increase the depth of the squad."