Joelinton watches on from sidelines as Bruno Guimaraes helps Brazil to 5-0 win in Seoul
Newcastle United's Brazilian duo headed to Asia this week to link up with the Brazil national side, who were set to play friendlies against South Korea and Japan.
Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes ended up arriving in Seoul 30 hours later than planned after their connecting flight from Amsterdam was forced to return to the Netherlands after six hours in the air after a fault was discovered with one of the aeroplane's windows.
Having to fly halfway around the world for an international friendly in the middle of the Premier League season was already less than ideal, but the extra stress of delayed flights and sitting on a plane for 12 hours longer than necessary really can't have been good for the players.
Despite this, Carlo Ancelotti threw Bruno Guimaraes into the starting lineup today as Brazil beat South Korea 5-0.
Bruno Guimaraes racked up an assist for Brazil today
According to Brazilian media, Bruno played a 'beautiful' game and picked up an assist for his efforts, with Globo Esporte handing him a rating of 7.5/10.
“He provided a beautiful assist for [Estêvão] to open the scoring and was very involved in the creation.
“He also played well in the marking and won the ball back for the third goal. He only missed two of his 66 passes.”
Joelinton will want to replace Bruno Guimaraes in the starting lineup on Tuesday
We hope that, having played in this game, Bruno will be afforded the chance to sit out the game against Japan on Tuesday in order to maximise his chances of a full recovery for Brighton.
Joelinton will, of course, be desperate to prove himself to Carlo Ancelotti, so he could replace his clubmate in the lineup for Tuesday's game.
We're sure that Eddie Howe won't be too pleased about Bruno being made to play 80 minutes after the nightmare travel he endured getting there for a meaningless friendly. We certainly aren't.
