Nunez hands Brazil their first loss in eight years, Neymar injured

If there was a time machine, soccer fans in Brazil would be asking what it would cost to "rewind" time to the end of the current season. A modest picture from the World Championship in Qatar, continued to fade in the qualifications for the next plenary session. The September victory (1:0) in the last moments of the match against Peru was not enough of a warning for the Brazilians, even the draw with Venezuela (1:1) did not initiate the awakening, and the punishment followed in a painful way in Montevideo, where Darwin Núñez gave a visiting side a lesson and sent them from Uruguay empty-handed, with two balls in the net (2:0). Uruguay is the first team to beat Brazil in the CONMEBOL Qualifiers in more than 8 years, as Brazil hadn't lost since 10/08/2015, 33 games ago.

This defeat set off the alarms in Brazil and confirmed that changes are inevitable, even urgently needed. The announced arrival of Carlo Ancelotti at the end of the season to the bench now occupied by Fernando Diniz will certainly represent a step that is expected to return to the desired track, but after tonight's edition, the question arises in what condition Brazil will meet June 2024. Offensively completely harmless, the visitors gave away two goals from the only shots in the box, and all the rival's flaws were exposed by Darvin Nunez, the scorer of the first and the assist of the second goal. The Uruguayan forward took advantage of Maximilian Araujo's cross from the left side and in the 42nd minute found the net for his rivals. With the fifth goal in the national team jersey, the Liverpool player spoiled the home audience and announced the first victory over Brazil after 23 years, i.e. only the sixth in history.

The suffering of the visitors was deepened by the duel between De la Cruz and Neymar in the stoppage time of the first half, in which the Brazilian suffered a leg injury, as a result of which he was immediately transported from the field to the hospital. The minimal advantage remained in force until the 77th minute, and Nunez was once again in the center of attention. Although De la Cruz decorated the action with his execution, most of the work was done by the center forward of the home team, who managed to outsmart three guards and send an ideal assist. The second goal in Ederson's net removed almost all dilemmas regarding the outcome, while the Brazilians were left to regret the glimmer of luck they lacked in the 69th minute when Rodrygo but hit the bar, which turned out to be the only serious threat of the visitors during the 90 minutes. Brazil suffered its first defeat and remained on seven points from four games, the same number as Uruguay.