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The current times are not very attractive for great demonstrations of national teams, a brutal exception was the scandalous Spanish defeat over Germany. But it was with absolute certainty that Brazil scored 2-0 in Uruguay, a match that demanded virtues other than those shown in the opening rounds and that saw Brazil respond well to needs. But the most curious thing was to notice how the night in which Éverton Ribeiro had an important participation ended up feeding back important discussions about the football played in Brazil.
In an era of globalization in which European soccer is the center of the world, it is natural that a dominant performance in Brazilian soccer is not enough to be seen as a guarantee of success among soccer’s elite. The argument is valid for Everton Ribeiro, who has never proven his worth in Europe and is a dominant player in national soccer in Brazil. Seeing his difficulty against Liverpool in the final of the Club World Cup sounds a bit cruel. After all, the best pressure in the world was on him, who has already swallowed up players from all over Europe. On the other hand, it is a fact that in much of the Brazilian season the spaces are more full to play. Yesterday, in Montevideo, the red-black midfielder gave arguments on both sides of the debate.
A tactical change from Tite was vital for Brazil to reach 2-0 in the first half. And it affected Éverton Ribeiro. The red-black player started out as one of the central midfielders and, as he received the ball between the Uruguayan defensive lines, he seemed to lack time and space to control the ball and execute plays. He suffered tackles early in the game, had a hard time continuing moves.
Passing on the right, where he was looking for the center, he had a great time. In one of them, on the side of the area, he played well in the play in which Gabriel Jesús was a pivot for Arthur to score on a deflected kick. In another, with a nice heel, he opened the field for Douglas Luiz to advance: from there came the corner and Richarlison’s goal. He became much more influential in the game, starting from the side of the field to look for spaces.
Another issue raised by its performance, from the less effective start to the participation in decisive bids, is the way it affects Brazil. Although Éverton Ribeiro gave good passes, he showed himself well for the national team as a starter in one of the richest classics in the history of world football, a significant part of the Brazilian public wrinkled their noses. It’s a huge exaggeration and detachment from the real world to say that “nobody cares” about the national team. But the country’s criminal calendar has turned teams and clubs into rivals.
Just by doing his job, the coach of the national team becomes a villain for keeping an athlete on the field who performed well in an important game; be aware of the nonsense.
There were those who counted the minutes of Éverton Ribeiro on the field to speculate on the possibility of a jet, a rest and a miraculous massage by putting him on the field against São Paulo, 24 hours later, for the Copa do Brasil. There were those who cursed the very existence of the national team game, although world football defined the existence of FIFA dates a few years ago. And only Brazil and a handful of nations, almost all of the third or fourth worlds of the ball, do not respect them.
So badly managing their schedule, so much to contradict common sense and the health of the players, CBF exposes the Brazilian team, admired around the world, to dislike inside their own home. Now, there will be expectations about the rescue that could bring Éverton to São Paulo in time to play in Morumbi this Wednesday. Brazil has created a new and distorted standard of professionalism. Poor player who, although he is right, one day refuses to play twice in two days in a row.
As for the game, Brazil was consistent. Naturally, the match would not allow a script similar to the match with Venezuela, it would not be 90 minutes in the rival field. The Brazilian defenders had more position in the exit of the ball. Renan Lodi only became a winger and Danilo only closed as a midfielder when the team settled in the attack, looking for Tite for having five men in front. It didn’t always happen, because Brazil had some difficulty against the Uruguayan marking, Firmino started as a center forward and Richarlison started from the left, sometimes moving more open, sometimes looking for the area and opening the hall for Lodi. Meanwhile, Gabriel Jesús opened the field on the right, with Éverton Ribeiro more in the middle. Brazil had control of the ball, but suffered direct Uruguayan play by Cavani and Darwin Núñez, the latter kicking the crossbar.
Until Tite went to 4-4-2, with Arthur and Douglas Luiz forming an efficient team of defensive midfielders, Jesús and Firmino began to play in the center of the attack and Everton Ribeiro occupied the right side. It was then that the two goals came.
In advantage, the team had a situation that no rival had offered it until now: the space to attack at high speed. And throughout the second half, the team defended well with great performances from the defenders and their two defenders winning the rebounds of the Uruguayan long balls. Sure, Brazil has restricted the actions of homeowners too much. Perhaps he could have installed more counterattacks.
Cavani’s expulsion, after a hard tackle on Richarlison, seemed to end the game, but a high ball ended in a goal by Nuñez, disallowed due to impediment. It would be the last scare of Brazil, the absolute leader of the Qualifiers.
