Joelinton hooked as Brazilian media hammer 'poor' 3/10 Newcastle United midfielder
Newcastle United midfielder Joelinton appeared twice for Brazil over the international break - and neither game went to plan.
It was a tough night for Newcastle United midfielder Joelinton on his first Brazil start in almost two years.
With Bruno Guimaraes serving a one-match suspension, Joelinton was called into the starting XI for the World Cup qualifier match against old enemies Argentina.
The 28-year-old appeared off the bench in Friday’s 2-1 victory over Colombia but had a moment to forget when he conceded possession on the edge of his box, which saw Liverpool’s Luis Diaz equalise. Fortunately, Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior went on to score a stoppage time winner.
Nevertheless, Joelinton was called into the starting line-up for the visit to Buenos Aries in the early hours of Wednesday morning. This, however, was another night where things exactly didn’t go to plan.
Brazilian media not too kind on Joelinton’s performance... again
Trailing 3-1, Joelinton was one of three players hooked at half-time. And the Brazilian media were once again not too kind on his performance.
Globo Esporte handed Joelinton a joint-lowest score of 3/10 and wrote: “He had already performed poorly against Colombia and repeated the poor performance against Argentina.
“Overloaded, he was slow in his pursuit and was unable to reduce the space available to the opposing midfielders. He stopped an opponent's counterattack in the 43rd minute and should have received a yellow card. Another yellow card was taken off at half-time.”
Goal were less scathing with their mark by awarding a 5/10, although did note that Joelinton “really struggled in the centre of the park”.
Brazil lost 4-1 in what was heaviest defeat in World Cup qualifying history, surpassing the 3-0 loss to Chile 25 years ago. Manager Dorival Junior said: “I always have total responsibility. I will never stop being in charge of any situation, whether I am in charge of a team or a national team. It is natural that no one expected what we saw today, and the responsibility is entirely mine.
“Everything we planned, unfortunately, from the first minute of the game, did not happen. The Argentine team was superior in every way. I even apologize to the Brazilian fans, because the expectations were very different from what we saw, from what we presented. It was a very difficult night for all of us.
“We studied all the opponents and tried to explain all possible situations to the players. We went through all the material and all the situations happened. We tried to explain the initiation, the way they evolved on one side, the way the players switched... Everything in a way that would allow for more aggressive marking by the four midfielders.
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“The goal right at the beginning created even greater difficulty for us, and soon after it was 2-0. Those of us who play football know how difficult it is to achieve a comeback. We still tried to score, but the difficulties kept coming. We were never able to impose what we wanted.”
Joelinton en route back to Tyneside
Joelinton will now return to Tyneside and celebrate Newcastle’s Carabao Cup trophy win on the Town Moor this Saturday. Eddie Howe’s side then resume their 2024-25 campaign by hosting at Brentford St James’ Park on Wednesday.
Joelinton is currently one caution away from serving a two-match ban having picked up nine yellow cards in the Premier League this term. The rules are that any player booked 10 times in their team’s opening 32 league games must serve a two-match ban, meaning the midfielder must avoid bookings against Brentford, Leicester City, Manchester United and Crystal Palace to avoid such punishment.