Romário slams Endrick for missed chance and demands Ancelotti be sacked
Brazil’s defeat to Norway in the United States became the trigger for one of the harshest critiques of the week in Brazilian football. Romário got straight to the point: Endrick blew it, the team disappointed and Carlo Ancelotti can no longer stay in the job.
The chance that did not go in
Thirteen minutes into the second half, Vinícius Junior found Endrick in a prime position inside the box. The young Real Madrid striker had the equaliser at his feet. The shot flew off target. Wide. A clear chance, wasted at the moment it mattered most.
For Romário, leaning on Endrick’s young age solves nothing. The former centre-forward made it clear that at the highest level there is no discount for inexperience when the play is decisive. Either you convert, or you are marked by the miss. As simple as that. The striker is only 18, but he already carries the responsibility of someone who plays at the Bernabéu regularly and earns steady call-ups for the national team.
Romário goes further: he wants the contract torn up
The knife did not stop at the result. The former number 11 assessed the whole of the national team’s campaign under Ancelotti in the United States and spared no one. He called the loss to the Norwegians a humiliation. And he went further: he argued for the immediate termination of the Italian coach’s contract, even if that means fines or exit clauses.
In Romário’s view, the World Cup failure combined with the recent result leaves no room for continuity. His argument is direct: a coach who does not deliver results cannot stay in the job, regardless of bureaucratic procedures. Pay the fine and send him packing.
Inside the CBF, the picture is still one of division. Some defend keeping Ancelotti with an eye on the cycle towards 2030, betting on the structure the coach brought from Europe. But the pressure grew after the stumble against a Norway side that, despite having Erling Haaland in the squad, was not the favourite. The result poured fuel on an already tense atmosphere.
The fight over who takes the penalty
Before Endrick’s chance, another moment drew attention: Bruno Guimarães missed a penalty back in the first half. Romário waded into that debate too. For him, Vinícius Junior should have taken responsibility for the spot-kick. It does not matter if the coaching staff set a different hierarchy in training. In the decisive moment, whoever leads needs to grab the microphone.
The logic the former striker defends is familiar to anyone who has lived through big games: taking a penalty belongs to whoever is hungriest, not to a technical pecking order. Vinícius is the group’s main attacking player. According to Romário, that responsibility cannot be delegated. For fans across the Premier League world who watch these Real Madrid and PSG stars every week, the debate is a reminder of how much a single miss can reshape a career’s narrative.
With Ancelotti offering no public answer about his future and the CBF still weighing its next steps, Brazil ends the June window with more questions than answers. And with Romário at the microphone, the noise will not fade any time soon.
