Raphinha will once again take up stripes with Brazil in the double round of South American qualifiers against Venezuela (visitor) and Uruguay (home). The FC Barcelona winger is living the best moment of his career and the 'scratch' has rewarded him by giving him the '10' shirt that, during the last decade, another former culé, Neymar Jr., wore.
The man from Porto Alegre has 12 goals and 10 assists in 17 games (1,396 minutes) with Barça, statistics that surpass his records in the previous two seasons with the Barça team. In addition, he has just scored a hat-trick against Peru (4-0) in the seleçao's last match, with which Brazil rose to fourth place in the World Cup standings with 16 points, 6 behind the leader Argentina.
Both in the first round of the qualifiers and in the Copa América, the Barça winger wore the same number as with the culés (the '11'), while the '10' had been worn by Rodrygo Goes. However, the Real Madrid forward, out due to injury on the FIFA date in November, has not had good performances with the national team in recent months.
Raphinha will debut the '10' on Thursday against Venezuela
Now, the mythical number worn by 'King' Pelé and other Brazilian legends remains in the hands of Raphinha who on Thursday hopes to extend his good scoring streak during his visit to Venezuela. The 27-year-old striker has scored 6 goals in his last 5 games for Barça and only failed to score against Real Sociedad.
For Brazil, the 3 points against the 'vinotinto' are key to continue climbing positions in a table, as usual, very close in the CONMEBOL qualifiers. After the clash in Maturín (Thursday at 22:00 CEST), Brazil must host Uruguay (Wednesday at 01:45 CEST). With which Rapha will be the last of the nine Barcelona players called up for the November break to return to Catalonia (on Thursday the 19th in the afternoon).
Against Venezuela, coach Dórival Júnior confirmed Raphinha in his lineup. The culé winger will be a playmaker, with Vinicius Jr. and Savinho on the wings and Igor Jesus as a reference in the area. The rest of the XI is completed by Ederson, Vanderson, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Abner, Bruno Guimaraes and Gerson.