No sooner had they recovered from an emotional Sunday at Wembley, some of Newcastle’s stars were back in action last night as the first international break of 2025 kicked off.
Sandro Tonali started and scored for Italy at the San Siro before falling to a 2-1 defeat to Germany in the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals, while two of our cup heroes were in action in South America.
Bruno Guimaraes started for Brazil in their World Cup qualifier with Colombia in the early hours of Friday morning and it wasn’t long until Joelinton partnered him in midfield after an injury to Gerson on 28 minutes.
Here’s how both got on in what turned out to be an up and down night for our boys rom Brazil:
After Raphinha handed Brazil an early lead from the spot, Bruno Guimaraes went into the book on 16 minutes and it was a costly card, ruling him out of their huge World Cup qualifier clash with Argentina next Wednesday.
A shame for Bruno, but Newcastle may be privately relieved he’ll have a night off, ensuring he returns to Tyneside next week free of injury and rested for what promises to be a feisty game against their biggest South American rivals.
Bruno was replaced by Wolves’ Andre on 78 minutes but spent most of the match alongside Joelinton, who came on just before the half hour mark before being robbed of possession on the edge of the box to gift Colombia and Liverpool’s Luis Diaz an equaliser before the break.
Some felt he was fouled (watch it below), but big Joe got plenty of criticism from the Brazilian media, with Globo Esporte giving him a 4/10 for his error and customary yellow card:
Not the best half for Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes…
🇧🇷 Joelinton lost ball in a bad area just before Colombia equalised.
❌ Bruno booked and suspended for Argentina next week.#NUFC #Brasil
pic.twitter.com/fQzktgexKq
— NUFCBlog.co.uk (@NUFCblogcouk) March 21, 2025
However, it’s not all bad news for Bruno and Joelinton, as Brazil rallied late on and found that all important winner.
Bruno wasn’t on the pitch at the time, but big Joe was and looked a relieved man as Vinicius Junior’s 99th minute strike secured a massive win for the Selecao.
The win sends them second in the qualifying table, behind only Argentina, and on the brink of securing their spot at the 2026 World Cup, set to be held across the USA, Mexico and Canada from June to July next year.
Tonight we’ll have three of our English Lions hoping for a start under new boss Thomas Tuchel, with Dan Burn, Anthony Gordon and Tino Livramento in the squad to face Albania at Wembley. Go well, lads!
Image