In the ongoing Copa America, Brazil faced unexpected challenges, failing to perform at their usual dominant level.
Despite possessing a talented squad, including several stars from Real Madrid, collective disorder and an inability to rise to the occasion saw them suffer a premature exit from the tournament.
Now, Barcelona legend Rivaldo has come out to reflect on his nation’s underperformance and touched upon Real Madrid forwards Endrick and Vinicius Jr., who endured subpar tournaments.
Rivaldo criticizes Endrick and Brazil coach
Indeed, the 1999 Ballon d’Or winner did not shy away from pointing fingers, claiming that Brazil coach Dorival Júnior’s substitutions were perplexing and his decision to play Endrick the entire 90 minutes against Uruguay was strange.
While he affirmed that Endrick has a bright future ahead of him, Rivaldo stated that he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
“Something is not right when you see that the coach takes out veterans who make the difference to try to win in the last minutes of the game.
“And even so, you keep a 17-year-old like Endrick, who, with all due respect, is going to be a great player… but he was lost,” Rivaldo remarked to Betfair (h/t SPORT).
The former striker did not question Endrick’s attitude but proclaimed that he simply seemed out of sorts competing at a high level.
“Endrick couldn’t play. He wanted to win, but he was lost and couldn’t play. The match was very tough, with lots of clashes and high physical tension,” he affirmed.
Throwing the focus on Vinicius
Although Vinicius produced a great display in the group stages against Paraguay, having scored two goals, he could not maintain that level of performance in other games.
Rivaldo believes that Brazil’s early exit from the Copa America could affect the Ballon d’Or and Vinicius’ chances of being named the victor.
Still, he argued that due to his achievements with Real Madrid and overall contributions over the course of the campaign, Vinicius deserves the Ballon d’Or.
“The end of the season is the Copa America and the Euro Cup, so it can have an effect, of course.
“In fact, these competitions make people start thinking about other names and candidates. But even though he lost with Brazil, I think he deserves this award for everything he did this season,” he stated.