Manchester United midfielder Casemiro has been reflecting on Brazil’s 2-1 defeat to France.
Casemiro and Matheus Cunha both featured in Brazil’s friendly loss to France, a disappointing game for Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
Both Manchester United players were given average ratings from the Brazilian press following the defeat in Orlando.
The whole team was disappointing, although Casemiro believes Brazil showed some positive signs.
Casemiro playing for Brazil vs France
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Casemiro has admitted that the biggest frustration was Brazil’s failure to capitalise on France having a player sent off.
Dayot Upamecano was shown a red card in the 55th minute with Brazil 1-0 up.
France scored the next goal to make it 2-0, before defender Gleison Bremer pulled a goal back towards the end.
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Speaking to ESPN, Casemiro said: “Of course, there are seven or eight important players missing, but we can’t cling to that. When you play, it’s always the Brazilian national team. I’d say it was a good game.
“We had opportunities, especially in the first half, and then in the second half we started well.
“But then, I think what went wrong was when we had an extra player. We lacked the ability to penetrate more.”
Casemiro’s frustration echoes an annoyance felt by Manchester United twice this season – failing to take advantage when an opponent were reduced to 10 men.
Back in October, Everton saw a player sent off after just 10 minutes at Old Trafford with the game goalless. In what was one of the most frustrating results of the Ruben Amorim era, United went on to lose the game 1-0.
And then more recently, United lost 2-1 to Newcastle, despite Eddie Howe’s side having a player sent off just before half-time.
United did capitalise on a similar scenario against Tottenham, but those two losses to Everton and Newcastle still stick out as games the team should have won.
Brazil’s 2-1 loss to France brought back the same emotions for Casemiro, annoyed that his team could not make the man advantage tip the game in their favour.
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Casemiro optimistic
The result offered a steer that France will remain favourites for the upcoming World Cup, ahead of Brazil.
Casemiro is convinced his side will be a top contender, and believes the results only reflected the recent preparations of the two teams.
He explained: “I think we’ll arrive strong, we have quality players, I repeat, we’re lacking a bit in that aspect, especially when we need to be more aggressive in the final third of the field, but I think we’re evolving.
“There are teams, like France, that have been in a project for longer, playing together for longer, with a coach, with a philosophy for longer, but I think we’ll arrive strong, mainly because we have high-level players in their clubs.”
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