Flamengo semi-final scorer admits frustration at missing World Cup | OneFootball

A Libertadores champion with Flamengo in 2022, Marinho was hoping for a call-up from Tite

South American Footballer of the Year in 2020, Marinho was signed by Flamengo in 2022, a World Cup year. With a strong recent résumé and playing for the biggest club in Brazil, the forward expected a call-up to the national team, then coached by Tite. However, the owner of the “random mini missile” was left off the list and did not hide his disappointment.

— There was a lot of talk about meritocracy. With everything I had been doing—reaching the Libertadores final, being elected South American Footballer of the Year, finishing as the runner-up top scorer in the Brasileirão, a good run of games, assists. If it was about merit, I had a huge chance of going. There was definitely frustration. My intention was to give my best to the club and have the opportunity —, Marinho said.

— It wouldn’t have been crazy. If I had been called up, I definitely would have completed the game. The national team would have been the cherry on top. I was on the radar, and because of that I got fined a lot (joking around with friends). At the very least, I wish I could have gone just to watch, crack a few jokes, but that’s part of it. I don’t regret anything, I did everything I was supposed to do, but it just didn’t turn out the way I imagined —, he added in an interview with ESPN.

HOW WAS MARINHO AT FLAMENGO?

Marinho was indeed one of the main players in Brazilian football in 2020 and 2021 with Santos. However, at Flamengo, the forward did not get much space. A backup under teams coached by Paulo Sousa and Dorival Júnior, the winger scored six goals and provided the same number of assists in 43 matches in the year of the last World Cup, in Qatar.

However, the peak of Marinho’s spell at Flamengo came in the 2022 Libertadores semifinal. Against Vélez Sarsfield (ARG) at the Maracanã, the forward scored in the 2-1 win that sealed Mengão’s place in the final, which would later end with the title.

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