Raphinha and Neymar help Brazil to embarrass Uruguay in FIFA World Cup qualifiers

Leeds United winger Raphinha and Paris Saint Germain winger Neymar led Brazil to thrash Uruguay 4-1 in a FIFA World Cup qualifier earlier today, October 15, 2021.

The match which took place in Amazon’s Arena in Manaus, Brazil, took the host country closer to guaranteeing its qualification for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Raphinha and Neymar made it difficult for Uruguay from the start of the game to the end. Neymar opened the scoring in the 10th minute, 8 minutes later, Raphinha doubled Brazil’s lead.

The first half ended 2-0 with no sign that the visitors could do anything different in the game even with Edison Cavani and Luis Suarez up front.

In the second half, Raphinha and Neymar continued to torment Uruguay until the 58th minute when Raphinha scored Brazil’s 3rd goal in the match. 18 minutes after the 24-year-old Leeds United winger scored his second goal in the game, Suarez stepped up to score for his country.

When Uruguay were trying to score more goals, Brazil’s forward Gabriel Barbosa did his job in the 83rd minute to end the game 4-1 in favor of Brazil.

Raphinha and Neymar’s inspired win has cemented Brazil’s leadership of the South America World Cup qualification group which consists of 10 teams. Brazil leads with 31 points in 11 games, 6 points away from second-placed Argentina.

Once Brazil beat Columbia on November 11, 2021, their place in the tournament would be guarantee ahead of other South American countries competing for a World Cup slot.

Raphinha is admired by Liverpool according to his agent Deco

Fast rising Brazilian winger, Raphinha is admired by Liverpool according to his agent Deco.

Deco who is a former Chelsea and FC Barcelona player said his client would grow to play in a top club but he is currently happy at Leeds United.

“There are certainly many clubs interested in him,” Deco told Globo in Brazil. “Liverpool do like him and there were some approaches, but nothing official. Leeds wanted to keep him for another season.

“Raphinha is happy at Leeds, but there will certainly come a time when he wants to take a step up in his career and move forward. He has three years left on his contract, but there’s nothing in it that states how long he must stay for or that prevents transfers.

“Leeds are aware of that and will want to sell him for a big sum, while Raphinha will end up progressing in his career.

“There’s a market for Raphinha and Leeds have very high expectations. There’s never been a rush in terms of the project.

“He’s ambitious to play at a higher level, despite Leeds being in the Premier League, but it’s not the right time (to talk about that) and that’s not what he’s focused on. Things will take their course naturally.”

Raphinha joined Leeds United on October 5, 2020, from a French side, Stade Rennais. Since he arrived at the Premier League side, he has played 38 times in which he provided 9 assists and scored 9 goals. His contract with Leeds United will expire on June 30, 2024.