Newcastle United latest news: Bruno Guimaraes has completed international duty with Brazil - but Carlo Ancelotti’s side ended the break with defeat against Bolivia.
Brazil ended their international break with a 1-0 defeat against Bolivia in the Estadio Municipal de El Alto - one of the most unforgiving stadiums in world football. The stadium is situated 4,088m above sea level with its altitude often creating problems for opposition players.
Those issues may have affected Brazil as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat. Although their qualification for next summer’s World Cup is not under too much threat, a 3-0 win against Chile earlier in the break had hinted at a bright future under Carlo Ancelotti.
However, defeat in El Alto has again raised questions about the side ahead of next summer’s tournament. Bolivia’s winning goal against Brazil was scored just before half-time when Miguel Terceros converted from the spot past Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson.
Bruno Guimaraes impresses Brazilian media
Whilst Guimaraes was the man responsible for conceding what would turn out to be Bolivia’s winning penalty, his overall performance did catch the eye of some Brazilian media outlets. Brazil’s media can often be very harsh on their national team, particularly when they fall to defeat, and whilst no player scored too highly in any player ratings articles from Brazil, Guimaraes was regarded as ‘one of the best’ players in a Brazilian shirt by Globo.
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Globo rating = 5.5. Public rating = 3.0. ‘His performance was compromised by the penalty, but he was still one of the national team's best players, setting the pace and appearing to have more energy than the rest. In the 31st minute, he made a crucial tackle to stop a counterattack. He played one-twos and delivered a beautiful nutmeg on Vaca.’
Whilst Guimaraes may have impressed media in his homeland,Goaldescribed him as a ‘menace’, giving him a score of just 4/10. ‘Bruno Guimaraes (4/10): Flew into tackles and was generally a bit of a menace in the middle of the pitch. Gave away the penalty.’
Sportsdunia, meanwhile, were also scathing in their rating of the Magpies man, describing him as the ‘villain of the piece’. ‘Bruno Guimarães - 4.5: The villain of the piece for Brazil. His clumsy challenge gave away the penalty that decided the game.
‘On top of that, he picked up a yellow card and lost possession eight times. A night to forget for the midfielder, whose mistake cost his team dearly.’
Following completion of his duty with Brazil, Guimaraes will now return to Tyneside and begin preparations for what will be a very busy period of the season for Eddie Howe’s side. Their clash against Wolves marks the first of seven games to be played before the Premier League again halts for international football to be played next month.
Five of those seven games will be played at St James’ Park and they will be desperate to make that home advantage count over the next few weeks, particularly when Barcelona travel to St James’ Park on Thursday 18 September.
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