By Sara Cordeiro.
The last time the Brazilian team won at the mystical Wembley Stadium, England, was in 1995. In addition to this long period without a victory for Brazil, England themselves were on an unbeaten run extending over a year.
It was up to the 17-year-old Brazilian jewel to make history and become the youngest to score at Wembley and break the English’s good run in a friendly match On Saturday.
Going through a coaching transition, the Brazilian team had numerous debutants, including their coach, Dorival Júnior.
To face England, Brazil took to the field with a lineup of Bento, Danilo, Fabrício Bruno, Beraldo, Wendell, Bruno Guimarães, João Gomes, Lucas Paquetá, Vini Jr, Rodrygo and Raphinha.
In a tedious first half, both teams created many goal chances and wasted them all. Vini Jr didn’t look the same as he did at Real Madrid and Raphinha killed every move on the right.
On the other hand, Lucas Paquetá had a great game with timely tackles and good play creation. In goal, debutant Bento ensured that the Brazilian net was not leaked.
The Canarinho team returned for the second half without changes.
In the 71st minute, Endrick entered the field replacing Rodrygo, and it only took nine minutes for the 17-year-old youngster to score his first goal for the Brazilian senior team, becoming the youngest to score at Wembley Stadium.
The friendly match ended 1-0 for Brazil.
Although it still needs countless adjustments and the exclusion of some players who do not perform in the national team, Dorival’s debut was positive compared to the previous coach, Fernando Diniz, who broke all the negative taboos for the Brazilian team (such as losing in the South American qualifiers at Maracanã and suffering defeats against Colombia and Venezuela).