Football Galactico Roberto Carlos has backed Joelinton to earn a call-up to Brazil after his impressive campaign at Newcastle United last year.
The Real Madrid and Inter Milan legend took note of Joelinton's performances in the Premier League and expects him to continue to flourish next term. The World Cup winner has 125 caps to his name and has offered some words of encouragement to Newcastle's player of the season.
Carlos, who appeared for The Rest of the World XI vs England XI at West Ham last summer, told Chronicle Live: "Joelinton just has to keep up the good performances. He’s been putting them in and now he must make sure that he does what the coach says and make sure the fans are also happy with him.
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"I’m sure that if he keeps up the good performances, his time in the national team will come."
Carlos pulled his boots on again in June at the London Stadium to help raise funds for Unicef. The former Ballon d'Or silver medal winner said: "Playing in England is always great, it’s a stadium that already has held historical moments and it’s great to be on the pitch, seeing the fans."
The legendary left-back teamed up with his former international team-mate and the man who lifted the World Cup in 2002 for Brazil in Cafu, and both agreed in that the game was very much for the cause, not the applause.
He said: "I heard Cafu say something that is true, we are here to help people and at the same time help underprivileged kids all around the world. Socceraid and Unicef come together and put on this great event every year to help others more and more."
Childhood should be one endless playtime. But around the world conflict, disease, hunger, poverty and disaster are disrupting play for millions of kids. And it is children that are often hardest hit – like the 7.5 million children currently affected by the conflict in Ukraine. They risk losing their homes, their families, and their schools. They lose the ability to just be kids.
The money raised from this year’s game could help UNICEF provide vaccines, fight malnutrition, and provide safe spaces to protect children in times of crisis, helping kids get back to the childhoods they are entitled to. And it could do so much more to allow kids to simply be.
Please give what you can today and help UNICEF protect play for every child.
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