Former coordinator for the Brazil national team, Juninho Paulista gave an interview to the Brazilian media this week, speaking in part about Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes.
At the time of writing, Gabriel still hasn’t made his debut for Brazil, despite his excellent form in an Arsenal shirt.
The centre-back was involved in a couple of international breaks in 2021 and 2022, without making it onto the pitch, but he wasn’t called up for the World Cup last winter.
According to suggestions from Juninho, that was related to Gabriel asking to be left out of a couple of World Cup qualifiers last March for the birth of his child.
“These are choices,” Juninho said. “I went through that. My son was born, I was waiting in England and the next day I came to Brazil because I had injured my knee and needed to recover as quickly as possible.
“My wife stayed there for 40 days alone, with the babysitter’s help. Did that hurt? When weighing you’re going to put everything on the scale and it’s inevitable, you’re going to put it all on the scale.”
At the time, Gabriel was clearly of the belief that those in charge of the national team had understood his decision.
“When it comes to family, it’s a delicate moment,” Gabriel said then. “I was a first-time father, I was alone with my wife in London, it was difficult to leave her alone.
“She said she needed me and it was a special moment for me, I got in touch with the people (from the national team), they understood, then you see that it’s a family, I was happy with the answer they gave me.
“I am grateful to the boss and Juninho.”
Yet it seems the reality is that the Brazilian national team staff were telling Gabriel one thing and acting on another.
The fact that Juninho and the rest would prioritise other players because Gabriel wanted to spend a milestone moment with his wife is one thing, but it’s even stranger that the defender hasn’t subsequently been called back.
Perhaps you can see the argument for leaving Gabriel behind at the World Cup. You don’t necessarily want players making their debuts on that stage.
But Gabriel missing out on the international breaks since the World Cup has been bizarre, given the way he’s been playing in north London.
All the Arsenal man can do is continue performing for his club and hoping the Selecao see sense.
