RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil will return to post-World Cup action in a friendly against Morocco on March 25 in Tangier. It will also be the hosts’ first game since they finished fourth in Qatar in December.

The ‘canarinha’ will be coached by Ramon Menezes, appointed as interim coach after having led the under-20s to success in their South American age-group championship on Sunday. Brazil’s youngsters regained a crown they had not won since 2011 without losing a single match.

Adenor Leonardo Bacchi ‘Tite’ quit after Brazil’s World Cup shootout exit in the quarter-finals against Croatia.

Menezes, 50, has led a long list of modest Brazilian teams and before assuming the Under 20 team he had two short spells at the helm of Vasco da Gama in 2020 and Vitoria de Bahia in 2021.

Last week the CBF denied that it had reached an agreement with the Real Madrid coach, Carlo Ancelotti. Other candidates to become Brazil’s first foreign coach have included Spain’s Luis Enrique, Frenchman Zinedine Zidane or Portuguese José Mourinho, Abel Ferreira and Jorge Jesus.

############