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Carlo Ancelotti has been accused of 'ruining' Brazil and 'pandering to popular demand' in the wake of the country's disastrous loss against Norway on Sunday.
Vinicius Jr, Casemiro and Co crashed out of the World Cup in New York after an Erling Haaland brace inspired the Vikings to the greatest victory in their history.
It was a largely cagey affair. Bruno Guimaraes saw a penalty saved in the first-half and Casemiro came close to teeing up Neymar Jr for a tap in after the interval, but it was on 79 minutes that the game sprung to life.
Haaland darted across Gabriel Magalhaes to direct home a header before, a little more than 10 minutes later, he killed Brazil's hopes with an effort drilled into the bottom corner from distance to make it 2-0.
Neymar, playing his 17th and final World Cup match, slotted home a penalty deep into added time - but it was ultimately merely a consolation.
The ex-Barcelona and PSG forward, 34, and many of his team-mates appeared inconsolable after the final whistle, for the defeat extended the longest drought in Brazilian footballing history. It was way back in 2002 that the five-time champions last lifted the World Cup.
And Ancelotti - who was brought in a little more than a year ago to restore Brazil to their former glory - has borne the brunt of the criticism in the aftermath of the loss.
The Italian's decision-making against Norway was described as 'disastrous' by one Brazilian columnist in the outlet UOL, who also accused the boss of pandering to the demands of supporters.
'In the final substitution, by bringing on Endrick and Neymar for the wingers, pandering to popular demand, he ruined the team,' a reporter wrote.
'It wasn't Neymar who died embracing Ancelotti, but Ancelotti who died embracing Neymar.'
Neymar had been included in Ancelotti's squad for the tournament despite making just eight league appearances in what was an injury-hit season at Santos, with stars like Chelsea's Joao Pedro omitted entirely.
The 34-year-old featured just twice in the tournament and struggled to make an impact on either occasion, yet was preferred to Raphinha and Igor Thiago as Brazil searched for a goal against the Vikings.
Another Brazilian reporter described Brazil's World Cup campaign as the 'worst performance of Ancelotti's career with a top-level team'.
The report adds: 'Carlo Ancelotti made the changes that ultimately ruined Brazil, especially with the introduction of Neymar.'
