Brazil vs. Chile

Maracanã, Rio De Janeiro, March 24, 2022

Kickoff: 7:30 PM EDT / 8:30 PM BRT / 11:30 PM GMT

Starting XI: Alisson; Danilo, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Guilherme Arana; Casemiro, Fred, Lucas Paquetá; Antony, Neymar, Vini Jr.

On The Bench: Ederson, Weverton, Dani Alves, Felipe, Éder Militão, Alex Telles, Bruno Guimarães, Fabinho, Arthur, Rodrygo, Richarlison, Gabriel Martinelli, Philippe Coutinho.

Late Cuts: Raphinha (COVID), Gabriel Magalhães (about to become a father; replaced by Felipe).

Notes and Storylines:

Gonna keep this real quick because I have had quite a day and I am tired. The big story is clearly that Neymar is playing centrally and alongside Vini Jr. We’ve all typed up firestorms about why Neymar should be given a try centrally, whether because we don’t have any decent center forwards (doubly true with Matheus Cunha out injured) or because Vini Jr. has become too good to leave out, and we’re getting to see it in a game that may actually have some meaning.

Also of note are the opportunities being given Antony and Guilherme Arana. Antony’s been good enough in his appearances as a substitute to raise the question of whether he could deserve to start ahead of Raphinha, and Raphinha came down with COVID at the perfect time to give us all some answers. (That said, Antony’s been up-and-down for Ajax.) Arana, meanwhile, gets his chance to audition for a left-back spot that continues to be wide freaking open.

Other than that: interesting that Danilo is starting ahead of Dani Alves… and a quick gripe about Tite not being more proactive with locking down dual-nationality players. Yes, he called up Gabriel Martinelli with that in mind, but at the same time Italy moved to bring Luiz Felipe and João Pedro firmly into their camp. I know the main goal is to prepare for this year’s World Cup, but if too many future prospects walk to other countries, it may hurt our chances at World Cups four, eight, even twelve years from now. Even if Luiz Felipe was too far gone (João Pedro probably isn’t good enough for the Seleção), Tite could’ve used Gabriel Magalhães’ late departure from the squad to bring in someone at similar risk of being poached away from us, like Roger Ibañez. Or, hell, just given a try to an untested center-back like Léo Ortiz rather than called up Felipe again.

As for a prediction: Chile are starting to find some form, and with their World Cup hopes hanging by a thread, they will be far more motivated to win this game, but fuck it, I like this lineup and the game against Paraguay was fun, so I’m going to predict another good game and a 3-1 win for us.