Clinton Morrison feels Gabriel Martinelli showed Brazil fans he is an ‘outstanding’ player in their defeat to Cameroon. The Arsenal forward made his first start at the 2022 World Cup.
Selecao boss Tite opted to hold Martinelli to a reserve role during the group stage in Qatar this winter. The 21-year-old only played four minutes in their opening game against Serbia and did not feature against Switzerland. But he came in to start their last game in Group G.
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Brazil had already secured their place in the Round of 16 with 2-0 and 1-0 wins over Serbia and Switzerland. So, Tite elected to ring the changes against Cameroon with Martinelli one of nine changes. Fellow Arsenal striker, Gabriel Jesus, also came in to start the Lusail affair.
South Korea stunning Portugal to secure a 2-1 come-from-behind win in the 91st minute meant Brazil would top Group G regardless of their result against Cameroon. Luckily, too, as the record five-time champions fell to a 1-0 loss, despite them having dominated the match.
Per WhoScored, Brazil kept 65% of the possession at the Lusail Iconic Stadium and took 21 shots against Cameroon. Martinelli and Bruno Guimaraes accounted for the most by an individual player for either side with four. Martinelli also hit the most on target with three.
Martinelli showed any ‘surprised’ Brazil fans that the Arsenal star is ‘outstanding’
No other Brazil or Cameroon player registered more than one shot on target but Arsenal’s bit-part World Cup talent, Martinelli. Yet for all of the Guarulhos-born forward’s efforts, he could not find his first Selecao goal. The Group G clash returned his fifth cap and first start.
Tite only gave Martinelli his Brazil debut in a cameo against Chile in March during a World Cup qualifier. The Gunners’ £6m signing from Ituano in July 2019 earned his maiden call-up amid a six-goal, six-assist Premier League season. He featured 29 times for 1,864 minutes.
The winger already has five goals and two assists from 14 top-flight appearances for 1,186 minutes this term. Yet Morrison feels some Brazil fans were underwhelmed by Tite picking Martinelli in his World Cup side, but the Arsenal star showed them why against Cameroon.
“I think it was hard for Jesus,” Morrison noted of the striker’s performance on Sky Sports News (03/12, 08:05). “I thought Martinelli was the bright spark. He was good on the left-hand side, caused a lot of problems.
“There were a few people when he was named in the squad, in Brazil, that were a bit surprised. [They] thought, did he deserve to be named in that squad? But he’s been outstanding. So, I thought he was, probably, their best attacking player.”
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