Liverpool’s Fabinho played the full game as Brazil beat Bolivia 4-0 last night, and his performance has earned him some plaudits.
Lance! gave Fabinho a 7.5/10 for his display, saying he ‘played a great game’, that he ‘demonstrated security in the midfield’ and that he ‘participated in’ Brazil’s second goal.
The Liverpool man wasn’t quite as eye-catching as his midfield partner – Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes – who got a goal and an assist. But he sounds like he did his job in typical understated Fabinho fashion.
Alisson Becker also played the full 90 minutes, for which he earned himself a 7/10. Alisson ‘made very important saves’ and ‘didn’t miss anything’. That sounds like our goalie, alright.
Brazilian Reds heading for Qatar
Brazil’s win means that they are guaranteed to finish top of the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying section. With one game to play, second place Argentina are six points behind.
Barring injury, Liverpool’s Brazilian duo will be virtually certain to board the plane to Qatar next November.
Alisson has regained his place as Tite’s number one goalkeeper after being left out at various stages on qualifying.
The 29-year-old has so far played in eight of the team’s 17 games. That’s far from being the ever-present starter that a goalie of Alisson’s standing should be. But it’s still more than either of Ederson or Weverton.
Meanwhile, Fabinho has seen a decent amount of game time too. The defensive midfielder has played in nine of Brazil’s games, starting six times and coming off the bench in a further three games.
Crucially for Fabinho, he has played almost exclusively in his favoured midfield role. That hasn’t always been the case for his country where he has often filled in at right-back.
But it looks like Tite has finally got the memo that this is one of the finest in his position in world football.
A third Liverpool player – Roberto Firmino – will still be hoping to play his way back into the squad in the seven months until the tournament gets underway.
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