Newcastle United hero Joelinton involved as Brazil are humiliated by fierce rivals Argentina

It hasn't been the best few days for Newcastle United fan-favourite Joelinton after being recalled to the Brazil squad for the World Cup Qualifiers.

Joelinton waited a long time to be called up for Brazil, but no sooner was he in the squad than he was back out of it again.

Newcastle's number seven had to wait over a year to be reinstated to the national side, but after the two games he's had this weekend, he'll probably be wishing he'd just stayed in Newcastle and surfed the Carabao Cup wave.

Joelinton was given poor reviews after his performance against Colombia, appearing off the bench after 28 minutes and making an error that led to Colombia's goal, it was hardly one to write home about.

Joelinton started for Brazil but only lasted 45 minutes

With his clubmate Bruno Guimaraes suspended for the game against Argentina, Joelinton found himself in the starting lineup for Brazil on one of their worst nights in recent memory.

Argentina absolutely dismantled Brazil, coming away with a 4-1 win with Newcastle United target Matheus Cunha on target for the Brazilians.

Joelinton's game lasted just 45 minutes, being hooked at half time as part of a triple substitution as Brazil searched for answers to Argentina's dominance.

Brazil were absolutely awful against Argentina last night

Goal.com gave Joelinton a rating of 5/10 along with pretty much everyone else in yellow and green, saying that Joelinton struggled to keep possession and deal with the Argentine press.

Watching the highlights, it's not hard to see why Brazil lost this one. We're not sure what the tactics were meant to be, but surely they weren't whatever was executed on the pitch.

Argentina had all the space in the world to do whatever they wanted. There was no closing down from the Brazil players, in fact, every time they looked like closing a player down they immediately backed off as if they were just bluffing.

The one time a Brazil player did press was when Cunha forced an error at the back from which he scored. What has happened to Brazil in the 2020s?