Igor Thiago: Brazil call-up ‘greatest achievement’, eyes World Cup | OneFootball

Igor Thiago made his debut for the Brazilian National Team last Thursday, in a 2-1 loss to France, in the first friendly of this FIFA international window. The Brentford striker, who describes his first call-up as the “greatest achievement of his life,” revealed how he can earn Carlo Ancelotti’s trust to secure a spot at the World Cup.

Brazil ended up losing to France even with one more player on the field. Igor Thiago came on at 26 minutes of the second half, replacing Matheus Cunha, and assessed what the National Team is still lacking, already looking ahead to the next friendly, against Croatia.

“It was the greatest achievement of my life to be able to wear this shirt, to see my name on the National Team jersey. It’s something I only experienced in dreams and, thank God, I’m making it happen. I’m sharing the locker room with great players, who have always been inspirations to me. Seeing them every day pushes me to do great work in my career,” he said.

The striker highlighted that his good form in the Premier League boosted his confidence about a possible call-up.

“With the numbers I had been putting up in the Premier League and people talking about the possibility of going to the National Team, that gave me extra excitement. In my last matches, I had been playing well, scoring goals in the toughest competition in the world, which is the English league. That’s when I started to feel I could be there. And when the opportunity came, I wanted to make the most of it to try to secure my place,” he concluded.

How to secure a World Cup spot?

The friendlies against France and Croatia are Brazil’s last commitments before Carlo Ancelotti defines the final squad for the World Cup, which will be played between June and July in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Igor Thiago explained which qualities he believes can help him earn his place at the tournament.

“What he (Ancelotti) basically asks is that we be more aggressive. I think I can offer that with my style of play: being more direct, disrupting the build-up, attacking space, applying pressure. He asks for a lot of physical presence in the box and a lot of movement, and I believe I can deliver that well,” he said.

“I take that a lot from what is asked in training: intensity, commitment, and being ourselves. When he spoke to me, he asked me to be more aggressive, press more, attack space, and provide that option up front,” he added.

Confidence in the squad and a response against Croatia

Igor Thiago, who is preparing with the squad for the clash against Croatia, assessed what Brazil is lacking and spoke about the conversation in the locker room between one match and the next.

“We need to be more aggressive, trust ourselves more. We have a group with enormous potential. It’s about exploring that aggressive side, imposing ourselves, because our shirt is huge. The second half showed that: we shouldn’t fear anyone. Other people are the ones who have to fear us,” he continued.

“It’s a conversation (in the locker room) to make everyone feel comfortable, to show how much we are together on and off the field. Everyone talks about the importance of each person, about the characteristics we have to impose ourselves. We have players with a very bright future. We don’t need to look outside. There are players here who can change history,” he said.

Brazil’s next match

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