Arsenal youngster Gabriel Martinelli made his senior debut for Brazil on Thursday evening in their 4-0 World Cup qualifying win against Chile. The five-time winners have already secured their place in Qatar, winning 13 of their 16 qualifiers to date.
Three Premier League regulars started the game - Alisson, Thiago Silva and Fred - with Richarlison and Philippe Coutinho coming off the bench to score the final two goals in the rout. Neymar and Vinicius Junior also found the back of the net in Rio de Janeiro.
Martinelli was introduced in the 75th minute for his first senior cap. The 20-year-old has previously made eight appearances for Brazil's U23 side, helping them win gold at last summer's Olympics in Japan - their second successive title in the competition.
Two other Premier League players also featured against Chile. Liverpool midfielder Fabinho and Newcastle talent Bruno Guimaraes were both introduced in the 82nd minute, with the latter assisting Everton ace Richarlison's last-minute strike.
While Brazil have reached Qatar, Chile's hopes hang in the balance. They need to beat Uruguay in their final qualifier and hope results elsewhere go their way to finish fifth, which will be enough for an inter-confederation play-off.
Martinelli will now be eyeing up a spot in Brazil's World Cup squad. He was called up for this month's World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Bolivia thanks to his impressive form at club level, scoring five Premier League goals for the Gunners this term.
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The winger has been described as "a talent of the century" by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and recently put in an outstanding performance against the Reds, causing Trent Alexander-Arnold serious problems and earning praise from Gary Neville.
The Manchester United icon compared Martinelli to Robert Pires - Arsenal's iconic French winger who won two Premier League titles at Highbury - on commentary. "He’s got Alexander-Arnold on toast," said Neville. "It’s absolutely outstanding from Martinelli. He’s got a bit of the Pires about him. That run was Pires-like."
Reacting to Martinelli's call-up, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said: "Gabi has shown big signs of where he's moving. Certainly the capacity that he has to score goals and be a threat in the final third and I think his contribution all round in his game has been exceptional."
Martinelli is also eligible to play for European champions Italy - who were sensationally knocked out of the World Cup by North Macedonia on Thursday - through his father. The youngster was born in Guarulhos, a city in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo.
Martinelli can still change his international allegiance, if he doesn't make more than three competitive appearances for Brazil before his 21st birthday. Italy international Jorginho, who was also born in Brazil, has tried to persuade Martinelli to do so.
"No-one spoke to me, only Jorginho once said to me, 'I hope to see you in March,' something like that, but no-one [official] spoke to me, no, Martinelli told Globo Esporte. "As I’ve said before, my dream was always to play for Brazil. I was just waiting for the opportunity to play for Brazil."
