With an initial roster made up of second-line men, revitalized by the entry of Vinícius Jr. and Endrick, Brazil beat Mexico 3-2 in stoppage time this Saturday in the United States in a preparatory friendly for the Copa América.
Endrick, the 17-year-old forward who will join Real Madrid starting in July, gave a victory in extremis to Dorival Júnior’s ‘Seleção’, who seemed to have victory in their pocket by going ahead with goals from midfielder Andreas Pereira (5) and the attacker Gabriel Martinelli (54).
But the ‘Tri’ tightened the score by coming back in the second half through forwards Julián Quiñones (73) and Guillermo Martínez (90+2), at the Kyle Field stadium, in the city of College Station, Texas.
The victory of the ‘Verde Amarela‘ puts Mexican coach Jaime “Jimmy” Lozano on the ropes, who completed the preparation for the Cup with a bitter outcome: a 1-0 victory with the weak Bolivia and defeats against Uruguay (4-0) and now Brazil.
Brazil, for its part, will play against the United States on Wednesday before fully concentrating on the start of the continental tournament (June 20-July 14).
The Latin American duel had a historic touch: Kyle Field, with a capacity for more than 100,000 spectators, one of the traditional boxes of college football, hosted a football game for the first time.
The biases accompanied their teams en masse, in need of results: Brazil to forget once and for all the dark 2023, Mexico to turn the page on the defeat in the final of the Concacaf Nations League against the United States in March and the fall against Uruguay.
Despite the urgency of recovering prestige, Dorival Júnior left its stars on the bench and opted for an alternative team, with two debutants (Evanilson and Ederson) and four players who made their debut as starters.
From the union of two of them, Andreas Pereira and Salvinho, the first blow for the ‘Tri’ was born: the winger filtered a pass between the center-backs, the midfielder received it entering the area, avoided three opponents and finished crosswise, to the opposite side where goalkeeper Julio González moved from.
Mexico, which did its best, accumulated one more disappointment on the way to the big event in 2026, the World Cup that it will organize together with the United States and Canada.
He struggled to break the ‘Canarinha’ defensive lines and to see up close the face of goalkeeper Alisson, the most experienced Brazilian on the field, although he looked more confident at the back against a rival attack that weakened after 1-0.
The ‘scratch’ offense woke up after halftime, again in the initial stretch, before some of its front-line men entered, such as Vini Lucas Paquetá, and Endrick.
Defender Eder Militao made a shot from midfield that Yan Couto received at the edge of the 18. The full-back ran almost to the line and gave a killer pass to Martinelli, who inflated the net with a left-footed shot.
The celebration was bitter, as the game was then interrupted momentarily due to a homophobic chant by the Mexican fans against Alisson.
With the ball in the ring again, Mexico managed to partially come back in two actions that took Brazil’s right-wing unprotected: in the first, Quiñones connected with a cross from Alexis Vega from the left; In the second, Martínez took advantage of a rebound from Alisson.
Martínez’s score seemed to end the match, but Endrick, the great hope of Brazilian football, was ready to ruin the Mexican plans. The youth player connected with his head a cross from ‘Vini’ from the left and celebrated his third goal with the ‘Canarinha’, whom he had already made celebrate in the March friendlies against England (1-0) and Spain (3 -3).
