DORIVAL EXPOSES INCOHERENCE IN HIS SPEECH BY CITING PEDRO'S NON-CALL FOR THE CUP AMÉRICA

In an interview with ESPN, the coach of the Brazilian team, Dorival Júnior, spoke about the team's elimination from the Copa América to Uruguay. One of the topics asked to the coach, champion of the Copa Libertadores and Copa do Brasil, with Flamengo, in 2022, was the absence of Pedro, Mengão's top scorer, and Estêvão, Palmeiras player.

“Pedro and Estêvão had already been evaluated, it's not new”, revealed Dorival.

Coach demonstrates inconsistency when explaining criteria for call-ups.

“The call-up depends a lot on the moment. During the call-up period, Estevão was not yet a starter at Palmeiras, he was in the initial process. You can't be too careful. We have to evolve, observing a lot. We are trying to be extremely careful to always make the best call possible.”

If Dorival points out the moment as a determining factor for the call-up, the absence of Mengão's Shirt 9 is not very well explained. When the list for the Copa América was announced in May, Pedro was already the striker with the most goals in the country, with 18 balls in the net. Currently, there are 25, in 34 games. Furthermore, the player has seven assists this year. Participation of almost one goal per match.

For comparison purposes, striker Endrick, called up for the national team, scored just four goals in 2024 for his club. The promise factor and media pressure spoke louder than the moment.

Another example happens with striker Evanílson, from Porto-POR, who had great numbers in the European season. The player, who was also called up, scored 25 goals in 42 matches, the Portuguese club's top scorer. However, he played for just three minutes in the Copa América, being passed over by the young man's brand, recently hired by Real Madrid and by a Rodrygo who was not very involved and improvised.

Does the call-up to the Brazilian team really depend on much at the moment? The fact is that Pedro has been crucial for Flamengo this season, taking on the role of the team's protagonist amidst the amount of wear and absence that Rubro-Negro has faced in the last few rounds.