Brazil must ‘rethink everything’ after Argentina loss, says Vinicius Jr.

Brazil forward Vinicius Jr. reckons the team must rethink everything after suffering a 1-4 loss against arch-rivals Argentina in Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier.

La Albiceleste were without the services of injured Lionel Messi but still outplayed their South American rivals. Julian Alvarez, Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister, and Giuliano Simeone scored for the hosts whereas Matheus Cunha scored for Brazil.

Argentina took seven shots on target whereas Brazil could only manage a solitary attempt.

“Everyone did badly, we played badly, and Argentina played an excellent game, with their fans,” Vinícius told reporters. “We have to rethink everything we’ve been doing, because the pressure will come, the people want us to win.

“The World Cup is only a year away and I’ve already played in a World Cup and I don’t want to lose again. I think we have to do a lot of different things and take the good things we’re doing in qualifying to build a squad. Everyone knows how difficult it is to play in this kit, but we have to improve, keep our heads up, because we’re Brazilians and we never give up. We’re going to qualify for the World Cup and try to do everything for our country.”

Vini Jr. added they still need to work a lot on their confidence whereas Argentina is playing with aplomb.

“Argentina have been working together for a long time,” Vinícius said. “[They have] a lot of players that have played together for a long time in the national team, they won the last World Cup, they have the confidence. We’re trying to find our way of playing, to win the fans’ confidence, but it’s a long job. We have to keep improving.”

On the other hand, Barcelona’s Raphinha turned heads when he said “We’ll beat them up!” in an interview with Brazil great Romário ahead of the match.

“Obviously that way of talking [by Raphinha] adds flavour to the game in a match like this,” Alvarez told TyC Sports. “But with our humility and hard work, we played a great game and we gave them the runaround.”

Dorival Júnior’s side is fourth in the South American qualifying group, 10 points behind leaders Argentina.