'Fought hard for it' – Bruno Guimaraes reacts following impressive assist in first match for Brazil as a Newcastle United player

It was Guimaraes’ fourth cap for the five time world champions and his first since completing a £33.3m plus add-ons move to Newcastle United last week.

The 24-year-old came off the bench to replace new Aston Villa loan signing and scorer of Brazil’s second goal Philippe Coutinho in the 73rd minute. The score was 2-0 at the Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte when Guimaraes was introduced.

Ajax winger Antony made it 3-0 in the 86th minute and two minutes later, The Magpies’ new midfielder grabbed an impressive assist as Real Madrid’s Rodrygo made it 4-0.

For the fourth goal, Guimares started the attack by turning and passing to Antony 15-yards outside of his own penalty area. A swift move from Brazil followed as they brought the ball forward with Guimaraes running to join the attack.

He then showed good movement to ghost into the penalty area, beating the offside trap and putting the ball on a plate for Rodrygo to tap into an empty net.

Guimaraes’ new teammate Miguel Almiron played the full 90 minutes for Paraguay in the 2022 World Cup Qualifier.

Following the match, the Brazilian tweeted (translated from Portuguese): “First game in Brazil and first assist. I waited, worked and fought hard for it. 24 years waiting for this moment. God is Faithful!”

Guimaraes will now travel to England to meet up with his new teammates for the first time in preparation for Newcastle’s next Premier League match against Everton on February 8 at St James’s Park (7:45pm kick-off).

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