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Home International Vinicius Junior explains pointing at Bruno Guimaraes during Brazil win: ‘He knows’

Vinicius Junior explains pointing at Bruno Guimaraes during Brazil win: ‘He knows’

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Vinicius Junior says he “needed a bit of confidence” after going seven matches without a goal before scoring in Brazil’s comeback win over Australia in an action-packed international friendly in Brisbane on Tuesday.

Forward Vinicius Junior’s only previous goal this season had been for Real Madrid in a 4-1 home win over Real Sociedad in La Liga on August 26, with his penalty 10 minutes from time against the Socceroos the 26-year-old’s first in four internationals.

“Bruno is the penalty taker for us when [Raphinha] isn’t there and I thought he wanted to take it,” Vinicius Junior told SporTV, explaining why he had pointed at the Arsenal midfielder before converting the spot kick for the final goal in the 4-2 win.

“But he knows I needed a bit of confidence. It had been a few games since I last scored, but it’s important to get back to scoring and important to get back to playing with our national team.

“Now it’s time to rest over these next few days and travel to India [for a friendly on Saturday], because our fan base there is huge and they are waiting for us.”

Australia vs Brazil: Raphinha ‘was penalty taker’

Selecao head coach Carlo Ancelotti saw Raphinha score the first of Brazil’s two penalties, equalising in the 45th minute after Vanderson had given the visitors an early lead but Alessandro Circati’s flick and Connor Metcalfe’s long-range strike had put Australia 2-1 ahead.

“Raphinha was the penalty taker and he took the first one,” said Ancelotti, also referencing Bruno Guimaraes’ finish at the end of a slick team move to put Brazil 3-2 in front in the 69th minute.

“Bruno was the second but Bruno had already scored, so I think Vini deserved to score. He took the penalty well.”

Raphinha, who is the runaway top scorer in La Liga with 12 goals this season for Barcelona, was replaced at half-time by Endrick, who set up Bruno Guimaraes’ goal.

Brazil said Raphinha had been replaced because of muscle discomfort.

Vinicius Junior penalty ‘best for Brazil’

New £75 million Gunners signing Guimaraes suggested the situation over the penalty reflected a set of Brazil players who “don’t have any ego”.

“In [a previous] game, Ancelotti told me to take it,” said the 28-year-old, who spoke last week of his enduring pain at having a penalty saved in Brazil’s 2-1 last-16 exit to Norway at the World Cup 2026.

“Today, he told Vini to take it. Vini also needed to score a goal… he went up and took it really well. We want what’s best for Brazil, that’s what matters to us.

“I’m happy for him and for the game we played.”

Bruno Guimaraes: Brazil ‘on new path’

Record five-time world champions Brazil have been criticised for their showing at the finals, which included falling behind in a draw with Morocco and conceding first against Japan in the last 32 before securing a last-gasp win.

The tournament was Ancelotti’s first as a national manager. The Italian this time gave a debut to 20-year-old goalkeeper Otavio following a 1-1 draw with Australia four days earlier in which Rayan equalised for the visitors in the 94th minute.

“It’s the beginning of a new journey for us,” said Guimaraes. “A lot of people want immediate results right away and we really understand the fans because they’re suffering and hurt, and so are we because of everything that’s been happening.

“The first game [against Australia] wasn’t good at all – nothing like what we were expecting. Today we came in with a new strategy.

“But beyond the system we play, whether it’s 4–3–3 or 4–2–4, we as players also have to take responsibility to perform better.

“In the first game, the pitch made things very difficult for us. Today the pitch was a bit better and we performed better and were able to keep the ball more.

“We also have to highlight that today we changed seven players from the last game, so it’s a team in development. We know we need to give a response.

“Anyone who loves the Brazilian national team will be happy with the result and the performance. It was good. It can be better, but it shows we’re on a good path – or so I hope.”

Brazil team vs Australia

Danilo Santos, Guimaraes, Raphinha and Vinicius Junior were the only retained players in Brazil’s line-up from the draw four days earlier.

Santos midfielder Gabriel Bontempo also made his debut and PSV winger Mauro Junior was given a full bow, having come off the bench in the first game against Australia.

Brazil: Otavio, Vanderson, Jair Cunha, Gabriel Magalhaes, Mauro Junior, Gabriel Bontemp, Bruno Guimaraes, Danilo Santos, Rayan, Raphinha, Vinicius Junior

Substitutes: Hugo Souza, Marquinhos, Douglas Santos, Endrick, Willian Estevao, Matheuzinho, Vitor Reis, Arthur Dias, Breno Bidon, Douglas Luiz, Pedro, Matheus Martinelli, Andrey Santos, Samuel Lino, Pedro Morisco

Australia vs Brazil friendly stats

  • Australia’s only win over Brazil is a 1-0 victory in the Confederations Cup third-place match in Ulsan in June 2001, Shaun Murphy heading the goal in the 84th minute
  • They had gone more than four hours and four minutes of football between that goal and their next against Brazil through Irankunda
  • Six of the previous nine meetings between the sides had resulted in Brazil wins with clean sheets, including each of the preceding three before that 1-1 draw last week
  • By scoring those first-half goals in Brisbane, Australia doubled their all-time tally against Brazil and scored twice in a game against the Selecao for the first time
  • Each of their preceding three matches had finished all-square after 90 minutes, going four without a win since their 2-0 victory over Turkey during the World Cup group stage on June 13
  • That was the only occasion in their last seven matches when Australia had scored more than once in a game, since a 5-1 win over Curacao in the FIFA Series in Melbourne on March 31
  • Twenty-two of the previous 24 goals in the fixture had been scored by Brazil, including five for the all-time top scorer in the encounter, Romario
  • While he was a player at Crystal Palace, Popovic spent time learning from current Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti while the Italian was boss at Milan
  • Brazil have scored in 15 consecutive matches since a 1-0 defeat in Bolivia in World Cup qualifying in September 2025, although they had netted exactly once in three of their four preceding games to this
  • Including this goal, Raphinha has 15 goals in 10 appearances across La Liga, the Champions League and Brazil games since the start of the season

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: 101greatgoals.com

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