BRAZIL’s new boss Dorival Junior started his bid to revive the five-time world champions with a 1-0 win against England as teenage sensation Endrick bagged his first international goal in Saturday’s friendly at Wembley.
Coming off their worst period for over 60 years, Brazil hope Dorival Junior can trigger a revival in time to challenge for the 2026 World Cup.
This was a first significant step in the right direction for the Selecao, who marked their manager’s debut with victory against an England side expected to make a strong challenge to win Euro 2024.
On a cathartic evening for Brazil after their wretched 2023, it was fitting the highly-rated Endrick bagged Brazil’s late winner.
The Palmeiras forward, due to join Real Madrid in July, has been tipped to succeed Neymar as Brazil’s latest superstar and his match-winning cameo appearance off the bench was a suitable coming of age moment in his third appearance.
Aged 17 years and 246 days, Endrick is the youngest senior international goal-scorer at Wembley.
Endrick’s emergence is a breath of fresh air for Brazil after an unusually stale period for the Selecao.
Snubbed by Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti and frustrated by the failings of two caretaker managers, Dorival Junior has been tasked with ensuring Brazil qualify for the World Cup.
The 61-year-old left Sao Paolo to take charge of Brazil in January, moving into world football’s most scrutinised job at a time when his country had just finished a calender year with more defeats (five) than wins (three) for the first time since 1963.
Beaten in three consecutive World Cup qualifiers for the first time ever, the team’s confidence is at its lowest ebb since the 7-1 humiliation against Germany in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals.
Brazil lost a World Cup qualifier at home for the first time when Argentina beat them in November, leaving them facing a nervous fight to qualify for the 2026 tournament.
But in the dynamic display of Vinicius Junior, the emergence of Endrick and the combative performances of his team-mates, Brazil have cause for optimism at last.
They will aim to build on the momentum from their first win over England since 2009 in another friendly against Spain on Tuesday.
