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Carlo Ancelotti was characteristically calm after Brazil’s 2-1 victory over Japan on Monday, insisting he had never doubted his team would get back into the game and warning they are getting better and better.

“At half-time I told the players to be patient because sooner or later we would score,” he said. “What was important was to keep our structure. We know we’re going down the right path and we have to continue on this path.”

Brazil had gone behind to a Kaishu Sano goal in the first half and had played ineffectively enough that it seemed possible they would, for the first time, fail to reach the last 16 of a World Cup. But Casemiro levelled before substitute Gabriel Martinelli scored an injury-time winner, the first time Brazil have come from behind to win a World Cup knockout game since they beat England in the 2002 quarter-final.

“At first we were trying to achieve superiority in midfield, to infiltrate,” Ancelotti said. “It didn’t work because their marking was really tight. They were really closed off. We changed at the interval to try to penetrate their area a little more. We crossed some balls and got forward better, so this is an evolution. We struggled to find space at first but we were able to solve this problem very well.”

And he had another card to play: “I told Neymar that if we didn’t equalise by a certain point I was going to put him on to the pitch.” For now, though, the 34-year-old’s only World Cup involvement has been 15 minutes as a substitute when the game against Scotland was already won.

Although Japan were worth their half-time lead, Ancelotti insisted this was a better Brazilian performance than any in the group stage. “This was by far the most complete game that we’ve played,” he said. “We were not lost in the first half like [in the draw] against Morocco. You have to suffer, that’s part of it. There’s no novelty there. Suffering is part of the game – as is relief.”

Japan’s head coach, Hajime Moriyasu, said: “The gap between us is closing now,” before hinting he would stay on until at least next year’s Asian Cup.

“Brazil are a top team but we are definitely approaching that level. There were moments when Japan were definitely controlling the game and the defence has become firmer than before. But if we are to beat these powerhouses we have to improve further.”