Arsenal star Gabriel Magalhaes started for Brazil against Peru in their World Cup qualifiers.
The 26-year-old was often overlooked by his country in recent years despite his brilliant performances for Arsenal, but that has now changed.
Gabriel has become a regular in Brazil’s defence alongside Marquinhos, and in recent games, he has been even better than the PSG star.
Late on Tuesday night, Gabriel helped Brazil keep a clean sheet and beat Peru 4-0. His country’s press have now had their say on his performance.
Brazil’s media deliver verdict on Arsenal star Gabriel Magalhaes’ performance vs Peru
Gabriel came under a bit of criticism for not passing the ball forward enough in Brazil’s first game of this international break.
That was a surprise as he always does that really well at Arsenal.
The former Lille man was much better against Peru on Tuesday night – both with and without the ball.
Gabriel didn’t have much defending to do because Brazil absolutely dominated Peru, but he dealt with whatever came his way without too much trouble.
Brazilian media outlets have had their say on Arsenal’s number six, and most of them have rated Gabriel higher than his more experienced defensive partner Marquinhos.
Correio Braziliense gave Gabriel a 6/10 rating and wrote: “At the same level as his defensive partner, with a lot of security and help with the ball passing to the left. He made good anticipation to prevent Peru’s attempts, whether with tactical fouls or tackles.
“He showed that he has enough level to compete with Marquinhos and (Eder) Militao for the starting spot in the national team.”
GE also gave Gabriel a 6/10 rating and said: “Same situation as his defensive companion. Safety in the few aerial attempts of the Peruvians and simplicity in the ball exit.”
Jogada 10 rated him 6/10 too and wrote: “He got a little more stuck in defence than Marquinhos. Work facilitated. Good at ball exit.”
Terra gave Gabriel a 6.5/10 rating, higher than Marquinhos.
People’s perception of Gabriel has finally changed
Gabriel never got the credit he deserved at Arsenal until the first few games of this season.
The Brazilian has arguably been the Gunners’ most consistent performer since he joined the club in 2020. He has shown tremendous improvement season after season and has been among the best centre-halves in the country for over two years now.
However, up until very recently, people just praised William Saliba and completely ignored Gabriel. He never made it into any combined lineups and wasn’t even in the conversation when talking about the best defenders in the league.
The perception was that Gabriel was significantly inferior to his Arsenal teammate Saliba, and was rash and prone to making mistakes.
That was really wrong, but we are so glad that people have finally realised that Gabriel is right up there with Saliba and is even better than the Frenchman in some departments.
Gabriel is getting the praise he deserves in Brazil too, which is great to see.
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