Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes urged Brazil to put their disappointing World Cup opener behind them as they prepare to face Haiti in Philadelphia on Friday.
The five-time world champions opened their Group C campaign with a 1-1 draw against Morocco. They will now look to return to winning ways against a Haiti side playing in the World Cup for the first time since 1974.
“We know what we have to do. We know that we didn’t have a good first match, but what we can expect from us is that we’ll be really committed tomorrow and we’re going to do our best to win,” Gabriel told a pre-match news conference on Thursday.
“It wasn’t the match we wanted (against Morocco), but this is in the past and we’ve learned from it.”
Brazil have won all three previous meetings with Haiti, including a 7-1 victory at the 2016 Copa America Centenario in their only competitive encounter.
“All matches are difficult regardless of who you’re playing, there’s no easy match,” said Gabriel.
“We cannot make any mistakes. They’re a physically strong team.”
Coach Carlo Ancelotti said he plans to make changes to the team while keeping confidence in his squad.
“We’re going to have some changes, but not huge changes, maybe some players who are better rested than others,” said the Italian.
“Getting off to a good start is important in a World Cup, but the most important thing is that the team, rather than being perfect, has to be resilient.”
He added: “You have to be resilient when things don’t go well; you mustn’t give up when things don’t go well, and I think the team is resilient and will improve.”
Despite the slow start and the continued absence of Neymar, who is still recovering from a calf injury, Ancelotti remains confident.
“The players’ self-criticism was constructive, and we’ve been working hard over the last few days to put things right, and I believe we’ll sort it out – sooner or later we’ll sort it out,” he said.
“I still believe this team will be competitive at the World Cup.”
