Gabriel Magalhaes put in an impressive individual display for Brazil against Uruguay on Tuesday, though his team ultimately left disappointed with a draw.
Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes played the full match as Brazil took on Uruguay on Tuesday, making it six competitive matches in a row that he’s completed 90 minutes for Brazil.
This was a particularly impressive individual display, with the centre-back winning eight of his 11 individual duels including 100% of his aerial duels, and completing 95 of 99 attempted passes in possession.
The 26-year-old even created a chance, and he won twice as many free-kicks (four) as he conceded.
Brazilian outlet Globe Esporte were impressed, writing that Gabriel was “one of the best players in the first half”. They added that he “directly responsible for Brazil’s offensive play, whether it was carrying the ball or risking long passes”.
As for his work at the back, GE wrote that “he fulfilled his role in a sector that was exposed in the second half”.
The only criticism of Gabriel’s performance in the Brazilian media came from GZH, who claimed he’d failed to clear the ball at the start of the play leading to Uruguay’s opening goal.
But that’s a bizarre criticism, considering Gabriel successfully shielded the ball from a Uruguay attacker. It was then Abner Vinicius whose failed clearance put the ball back in Uruguay’s possession, and Gabriel had nothing to do with it.
Gabriel Martinelli came on for the final half-hour and Brazil managed to secure an equaliser to take a point from the game, but they’ll be disappointed not to have won all three.
Having had the majority of possession and more than twice as many shots as their opponents, this was a missed opportunity.
With six games to play, Brazil sit fifth in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualification table. The top-six teams automatically qualify for the tournament and the seventh gets into the play-offs, so there’s no cause for panic just yet.
Even so, it’s been a drab qualification campaign so far, and Brazil supporters are starting to get restless.
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