Pre-match: AMISTOSO: Brasil X Uruguai, 16 de Novembro de 2018

vs.

Location: Emirates Stadium, London, United Kingdom




Brazil roster:​

Goleiros:
Alisson (Roma)
Ederson (Manchester City)
Brazão (Cruzeiro)

Defensores:
Marquinhos (PSG-FRA)
Miranda (Inter de Milão-ITA)
Dedé (Cruzeiro)
Pablo (Bordeaux-FRA)
Marcelo (Real Madrid-ESP)
Filipe Luís (Atlético de Madrid-ESP)
Fabinho (Liverpool-ING)
Danilo (Manchester City-ING)

Meio-Campistas:
Casemiro (Real Madrid-ESP)
Walace (Hannover-ALE)
Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona-ESP)
Allan (Napoli-ITA)
Arthur (Barcelona)
Paulinho (Guangzhou -CHN)

Atacantes:
Neymar (PSG-FRA)
Firmino (Liverpool-ING)
Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City-ING)
Richarlison (Everton-ING)
Douglas Costa (Juventus-ING)
Willian (Chelsea-ING)

The 2018 season comes to an end as Brazil today has its penultimate match in the year, and like the last two and the next and final one, it will be a friendly. And once again in familiar friendly territory - England - Brazil steps to the pitch to face an old and traditional South American rival: Uruguay.

Uruguay was, after Brazil, the most solid performer in qualifying for the last World Cup. The Uruguayans came back from a 2-0 deficit to draw Brazil in Recife on March 25, 2016, a match which was followed by the infamous provocation by Jorge Fucile to Neymar ("te comiste"), which witnessed Neymar being contained by then Barcelona teammate Luis Suárez. But Neymar and Brazil had their revenge in Montevideo 1 year later, when Brazil rocked the hosts 1-4. This was, significantly, the second straight demolition of Uruguay by Brazil in the Centenario Stadium in a WCQ match; in 2009, Brazil won 4-0 in a WCQ fixture for the 2010 World Cup.

Despite WCQ fortunes, Uruguay had a solid World Cup, being 1 of 3 teams to win all 3 group stage games (the others being Belgium and Croatia). Uruguay vanquished Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal in the round of 16 in Russia, only to fall to eventual World Cup champions France 2-0 in the quarterfinals.

Óscar Tabárez has been maintained for yet another cycle as Uruguay manager, and the "Maestro" (he is a former schoolteacher) deserves much credit for his efforts to revitalize his national team. Tabárez has been involved for several years w/ Uruguay's youth divisions, and under him, Uruguay has surged back as a tough contender in CONMEBOL, going to the final four in South Africa. But for this Brazilian fan, the image of the septuagenarian Tabárez - who suffers from Guillain-Barré syndrome (a condition which attacks the immune system - struggling with all his might, while using a cane, to stand up to celebrate his team's winning goal against Egypt in Russia was one of the most memorable and heartwarming images of the tournament.

Uruguay arrives at Arsenal's stadium with several absences due to injuries. A number of players are on the injured list: Diego Godín, Josema Giménez, Fernando Muslera, Sebastián Coates, and Christian Stuani. But in their places come Emiliano Velázquez, Mauricio Lemos (both players with some previous NT experience) as well as first-time NT players Erick Cabaco, Mathías Suárez, and Bruno Méndez.

Mathías Suárez would be deployed on the flanks, whereas Velázquez would be paired with Martín Cáceres as zagueiros.

Uruguay was in decades past a CONMEBOL superpower, but since the early 1970s, it has declined considerably, missing a number of World Cups. It won a Copa América on home ground in 1995 (on PKs vs. Brazil) and another one in Argentina in 2011, in what was its last great title win and a sign that Uruguay was back on CONMEBOL's biggest stage. This came after a number of painful home defeats in WCQ (March 31, 2004: Uruguay 0, Venezuela 3; June 1, 2004: Uruguay 1, Peru 3). With the 4th place in South Africa and a quarterfinal finish in Russia, Uruguay seeks to maintain momentum even as Luis Suárez, its most lethal forward in years, approaches his 32nd birthday and is now in the final leg of his international career.

For Brazil, this is yet another test for Tite, who however chose to make only one notable new call-up: Allan, from Napoli. Paulinho, a man he has trusted since earlier in the decade when both were at Corinthians, makes his return, and one wonders how differently or innovatively Brazil will play versus the matches against the United States, El Salvador, Saudi Arabia, and Argentina given many of the same players are back. If anything, we may safely surmise that based on this group's performance today and against Cameroon next week, we will see the core of players Tite will select for friendlies in early 2019 en route to the final 23 who will represent Brazil in the 2019 Copa América - to be held on home soil

The following is speculated to be the starting XI Tabárez will have on the pitch against Brazil:

Martín Campaña, Mathías Suárez, Martín Cáceres, Emiliano Velázquez o Mauricio Lemos, Diego Laxalt, Lucas Torreira, Matías Vecino, Rodrigo Bentancur, Giorgian De Arrascaeta, Edinson Cavani y Luis Suárez.

 

It may be noted that after a 1-4 victory over Mexico in a September friendly, Mexico had a friendly with Ecuador which was cancelled and an Asian tour where the Uruguayans lost 1-2 at South Korea and 3-4 at Japan. A victory against Brazil would be a big result for them.

 

Tite walked over to the Uruguayan dugout and warmly greeted Tabárez. I liked it - the "Maestro" deserves a lot of respect for all he's done in futebol.

 

Brazil on a 4-3-3:

Allison Becker; Danilo, Marquinhos, Miranda, Filipe Luís; Walace, Arthur, Renato Augusto (!!!); Douglas Costa, Neymar, Roberto Firmino.

 

A minute of silence for Aldyr Schille, who designed the now world-famous yellow jersey that symbolizes Brazil.

 

Agreed. He should be dropped. At the very least Arthur has joined the national team.

 

More than a few hard fouls and yellow cards for a "friendly."

 

Uruguay has changed since halftime and it is now pressuring Brazil. Galvão Bueno pointed out that Brazil hasn't changed and that this also happened vs. Belgium.

 

Yes but you don't want injuries.

 

Allan in for Renato Augusto.

 

This result has decreased my patience with Tite. Brazil played very well in the first half, but a few adjustments by Tabárez made Uruguay a better team and Brazil was fortunate to hold to the 0-0 before substitutions evened out the momentum. I'm not complaining about the win, and there's still Cameroon in a few days for Tite to show that he can be flexible. But come 2019, he's going to be under the most pressure since the World Cup - in WCQ, his first results were all wins, and with Brazil cruising in qualifying, he had little to worry about. It won't be the same if the team underperforms in competitive matches.