Vinicius Jr explains Bruno Guimaraes decision as Newcastle United dilemma emerges

World Cup: Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes missed a crucial penalty as Brazil crashed out of the World Cup to Norway.

Bruno Guimaraes’ impressive World Cup came to a devastating end with Brazil on Sunday evening as the Newcastle United captain missed an early penalty against Norway.

Brazil went on to lose the match 2-1, confirming their first last-16 World Cup exit since 1990.

An eventful start to the game saw Norway have an early goal disallowed before conceding a penalty after VAR penalised Kristoffer Ajer for bringing down Matheus Cunha inside the box.

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With Brazil yet to be awarded a penalty at the tournament, there was uncertainty over who would take it. But Guimaraes, as he had done for Newcastle in Anthony Gordon’s absence, stepped up to take the spot kick.

But his 14th-minute penalty effort was saved by Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland. It was the first time a Brazilian had missed a penalty during a World Cup match since Zico against France in 1986.

And to make matters worse, Guimaraes would go on to be substituted in the second half as he watched helplessly from the sidelines as Erling Haaland netted a late brace to confirm Brazil’s exit. Neymar came off the bench to score a late consolation for Brazil from the penalty spot.

Norway will now face England in the World Cup quarter-final in Miami on Saturday (10pm BST kick-off).

But for Brazil, a big question after the match was why Guimaraes was given the responsibility to take a crucial penalty in the match despite Vinicius Jr regularly taking penalties at club level for Real Madrid and also being Brazil’s top scorer in the tournament with four goals.

After the match, Vinicius Jr was asked why he didn’t take the penalty over the Newcastle captain.

“Ancelotti decided to give the penalty to Bruno,” he said. “The coach chooses who will take the penalty kick beforehand. He chose Bruno. I was never selfish, I never wanted to be the top scorer of the competition, and that's why Bruno took it.”

The penalty miss saw Guimaraes go from hero to villain in Brazil’s World Cup campaign having assisted four goals in four games leading up to the last-16 clash, including Gabriel Martinelli’s stoppage time winner against Japan.

It also raises questions as to who will be Newcastle’s designated penalty taker this coming season following the sale of Gordon. Nick Woltemade has missed his last two penalties for club and country, while Guimaraes has missed two of his last three.

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