Joelinton won another Brazil cap in the early hours of Wednesday morning, but it was a game to forget for the Newcastle United midfielder.
He was named in the Selecao’s starting XI to face Argentina, despite Joelinton struggling against Colombia in the previous game.
With Bruno Guimaraes suspended, Joelinton was promoted to the Brazil starting lineup.
However, the Newcastle United star would only last 45 minutes as Dorival Junior’s side were beaten 4-1 by their biggest rivals. Joelinton was substituted at half-time to be replaced by Wolves’ Joao Gomes.
Photo by JUAN MABROMATA/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by JUAN MABROMATA/AFP via Getty Images
The Brazilian media were not impressed with Joelinton, on a night where no one in yellow and green performed to the best of their ability.
Globo Esporte gave Joelinton a score of 3/10, which was the joint lowest given to any player alongside Murillo and Guilherme Arana.
On Joelinton, Globo wrote: “He had already performed poorly against Colombia and repeated the poor performance against Argentina. Overloaded, he was slow in his pursuit and was unable to reduce the space available to the opposing midfielders. He stopped an opponent’s counterattack in the 43rd minute and should have received a yellow card. Another yellow card was taken off at half-time.”
Elsewhere, Goal gave him a 5/10 rating. They wrote: “Really struggled in the centre of the park with possession and Argentina’s press. Removed at half time.”
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The stats behind Joelinton’s poor performance
As Globo point out, Joelinton was overloaded in midfield. He was unable to get close to his opponents, as the World Cup holders ran riot.
The 28-year-old was powerless against Argentina, not looking anything like the man who was Newcastle’s best player in the Carabao Cup final.
Without Bruno alongside him, Joelinton struggled to impose himself on his first start for Brazil since June 2023.
Minutes played 45
Touches 30
Accurate passes 22/24
Shots 0
Dribble attempts 0
Duels won 2/4
Possession lost 4
Interceptions 0
Tackles 2
What is next for Newcastle United’s midfield enforcer
With his international commitments now over, Joelinton is set to return to Tyneside for the final 10 games of the Premier League season.
He is currently one booking away from a two-match ban. Those bookings will be wiped after the 32nd game of the season, which means Joelinton needs to get through four games without a yellow card to avoid a suspension.
Before then, Joelinton will be part of Newcastle’s Carabao Cup celebrations on Saturday.
The Magpies’ trophy winners are set to be paraded through the city centre before arriving at the Town Moor.