With Ancelotti watching, Pedro seeks final World Cup audition | OneFootball

On the eve of Brazil's final 26-man World Cup call-up, Pedro seeks a late audition in front of Carlo Ancelotti at Arena da Baixada. According to Globo.com, the national coach will attend on Sunday, kick-off 19:30 Brasília time.

The forward faced criticism after Thursday's Copa do Brasil exit to Vitória. Introduced after the interval, he had a clear chance on 41 minutes from a Wallace Yan cross and a Bruno Henrique knockdown. Unmarked near the six-yard box, he chested and shot with his right, but Lucas Arcanjo saved a tame effort that would have taken the tie to penalties.

The same stadium hosted one of his finest moments in 2022, a bicycle-kick goal for Flamengo against Athletico-PR that sealed a Copa do Brasil semi-final place.

He has ranked that goal in his top three in a recent interview on the club's YouTube channel. That was also the year he scored for Brazil for the first time.

Flamengo have the most players on Ancelotti's pre-list, seven, Danilo, Alex Sandro, Léo Pereira, Léo Ortiz, Paquetá, Pedro and Samuel Lino. Of those, only Pedro has not been called since the Italian took over, and injury in the November international window limited close assessment. Danilo, Léo Pereira, Alex Sandro and Paquetá are seen as favourites, while Pedro remains an outsider.

With Igor Thiago and João Pedro currently in stronger contention, a late surprise is not ruled out, particularly after his strong start to the season.

Source: Globo.com