Clarinha returns to national team for South American shot | OneFootball

Clarinha's reunion with the Brazilian National Team holds special significance. First called up in 2022, the midfielder saw her dream of competing in the South American U-17 Championship interrupted by an injury during the preparation for the competition. Four years later, she returns to the group more mature for the U-20 category and ready to seize the opportunity she had to postpone. Her journey back began with friendly matches against Mexico in Goiânia, when Clarinha donned the National Team jersey once again. Subsequently, she joined the preparation period at Granja Comary and secured her spot on coach Camilla Orlando's final list for the continental competition, solidifying her return to the Brazilian team.

With dual Brazilian and Portuguese nationality, Clarinha built her football career in Europe. Since 2020 at Benfica, she has progressed through all stages to reach the main team in the 2025/2026 season. Her recent growth is also reflected in numbers: she has already played six official matches across the Women’s Champions League, Portuguese League, and Taça de Portugal. Accustomed to the pace and demands of European football, the midfielder highlighted one of the main differences compared to the South American style.

Clarinha during warm-up with the Brazilian National Team in the South American Championship in Paraguay Credits: Staff Images / CBF

"I think one of the main differences is the intensity. The girls are much faster from Brazil or any South American country compared to Portugal, that's a difference I feel a lot," she stated.

At the same time, she emphasizes that her experience abroad has helped develop a more strategic view of the game, something she aims to bring to the Brazilian National Team. "We work a lot on game reading in Portugal, in my team. Since my first year in the youth team, we are always working on what the teams will do, what is best for us to do, always thinking a lot about the game. I also tried to bring a bit of that from my experience here to the National Team, to help the girls in the best way possible," she explained.

Clarinha during the match against Argentina in the first phase of the South American Championship in Paraguay Credits: Staff Images / CBF

Clarinha has already been on the field against Ecuador and Argentina. This Thursday (19), the player will be available for the match against Colombia at 8 PM (Brasília time), at the Luis Alfonso Giagni Stadium, in the Paraguayan city of Villa Elisa, for the second round of the final phase of the South American Championship. Back in the National Team environment, Clarinha also highlighted how the group prepares to face the challenges of the decisive phase and reinforced the importance of collective work in the face of different opponents' strategies. While Europe brought tactical evolution, it is in the National Team that Clarinha finds something she considers essential: the essence of Brazilian football.

"I think each game is a game, I think all the difficulties will appear and we will work on them in training. Every training session has something different that we will address. Each team has a different strategy. I think we will overcome the difficulties together. I think, of course, there will be moments in the game when we might be on top, there will be moments when we might be down, but we will always try to come out on top. One of the things I like most when I come here to the national team is the joy of playing football, of being free," she says.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.