It’s been a brutal week or so at Newcastle United, featuring two defeats, two injuries, a three-game ban and a 5% rise in season ticket prices that hasn’t gone down too well.
Momentum is needed, not just ahead of the Carabao Cup final next Sunday but for our Premier League hopes too, with European football still well within reach as we travel to West Ham next Monday.
The trip to London will be our last league game before the upcoming international break, seeing several of our star men jet off to play for their countries a few days after our clash with Liverpool at Wembley.
Lewis Hall won’t be in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad after his season-ending foot injury and Sven Botman’s hopes of getting back into the Dutch set up have temporarily dashed, but there was big news for Joelinton as the Brazil squad was announced yesterday.
Joelinton has been recalled to the Brazil squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Colombia and Argentina later this month.
The 28-year-old scored on his debut for the national side back in June 2023 and recently returned from a knee injury, starting in Sunday’s FA Cup defeat to Brighton.
Joelinton not only rejoins best mate Bruno Guimaraes in the Brazil squad, but is also part of a strong line-up that includes Neymar, Vinicius Junior and Raphinha, along with former Toon target Joao Pedro, Wolves’ Matheus Cunha and Nottingham Forest’s Murillo.
**Goalkeepers:** Alisson (Liverpool), Bento (Al-Nassr), Ederson (Manchester City)
**Defenders:** Danilo (Flamengo), Guilherme Arana (Atletico Mineiro), Wesley Franca (Flamengo), Vanderson (Monaco), Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal), Marquinhos (PSG), Leo Ortiz (Flamengo), Murillo (Nottingham Forest)
**Midfielders:** Andre (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle United), Gerson (Flamengo), Matheus Cunha (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Neymar (Santos), Joelinton (Newcastle United)
**Forwards:** Estevao (Palmeiras), Joao Pedro (Brighton), Raphinha (Barcelona), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Savinho (Manchester City), Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid)
Joelinton will be delighted to win back a place in the Brazil squad after missing out on their last few squads.
However, with injury issues mounting up at Newcastle and Anthony Gordon banned until our Monday night trip to Leicester on 7th April, we’ll be keeping everything crossed that our international stars return unscathed.
Brazil could also be involved in some typically feisty South American clashes, with the Samba stars taking on Colombia on March 21st – five days after the Carabao Cup final – before travelling to Argentina on 26th March.
Newcastle play Brentford at St James’ Park on Wednesday 2nd April, a few days after the FA Cup quarter-final weekend, then travel to Leicester the following Monday.
Hopefully the prospect of playing for his country in a few weeks time doesn’t hold big Joe back in the coming games, with it absolutely vital that the Brazilian is at his barnstorming best in our next two games before the break.