Arsenal star Gabriel Martinelli continued his rapid rise as one of football's hottest prospects last night with an impressive outing in his first Brazil start. The 21-year-old joined fellow Gunner Gabriel Jesus and Manchester United's Antony in Tite's attack in A Selecao's 1-0 defeat to Cameroon.
Vincent Aboubakar's 92nd-minute winner ended Brazil's 100% record in Qatar last night as the World Cup group stages came to an end. With qualification already secured, Tite made another of changes to rest his key players ahead of Monday's last 16 tie against South Korea.
Dani Alves, Bremer, Eder Militao, Alex Telles, Rodrygo and Martinelli all came into the starting XI while Marquinhos, Raphinha, Casemiro, Vinicius Jr all dropped to the bench.
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Martinelli played the whole 90 minutes and was Brazil's most impressive player in a lacklustre performance from the five-time world champions. He completed 79% of his passes and created two chances but was unable to net his first international goal.
Despite failing to make a difference to the scoreline, Martinelli's display on the pitch was greeted with raving reviews from the Brazilian media. Here's what they have had to say...
Jogada 10 - 7.5/10
"Best in Brazil on the field. He was the author of the most dangerous submissions of the Brazilian team and showed that he can be used more."
Correio Braziliense - 7.5/10
"It was the highlight of the last Brazilian performance in the group stage. The quality of dribbling, speed and finishing power drew attention. He created chances down the left and almost scored a great goal with a placed kick."
Globo - 7/10
"He had a good first half. In a header and in a finish in which he sewed all of Cameroon's defence to the middle, he made Brazil's main finishes. He also started and tried to find Jesus in the middle in a good attempt on the left. He lost his boot on another ball that ended in Antony's submission. He finished perfectly from the angle, but the goalkeeper made another great save at the start of the second half."
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