West Ham United ace Lucas Paqueta slammed as Brazil exit Copa America
West Ham United ace Lucas Paqueta had a night to forget as Brazil were eliminated from the Copa America on penalties by Uruguay.
The quarter-final at Allegiant Stadium in the United States in the early hours of Sunday (7 July) finished 0-0 after 90 minutes.
Paqueta was taken off on the second half and therefore could only watch on as his country were dumped out 4-2 on penalties.
And Brazilian newspaper Globo [7 July] did not hold back on its criticism of Paqueta’s display as they rated his performance “4.5/10”.
“Another disappointing match,” the report read. “He appeared very little in the first half and, at 38 minutes, he received a yellow card.
“He had a good shot, but following the play he then missed a pass. He left in the first wave of substitutions, at 35 minutes in the second half.”
Goal [7 July], meanwhile, added that while “5/10” Paqueta “tried to orchestrate from a N0.10 position”, he “held onto the ball for too long”.
Paqueta was not the only Brazil player to disappoint, but he seemed to get more criticism than most.
“Lucas Paqueta and Rodrygo haven’t been able to integrate into the attack,” CBS Sports [7 July] wrote.
“With Neymar out of Copa America with a knee injury, no one has shown that they can replace him as the talisman up top.”
It really was a terrible result for Brazil, who have struggled for form over the past couple of years now.
Indeed, Argentine newspaper Ole [7 July] stated that this current Brazilian team is “one of the worst in its history”.
If there are to be any positives from this, Paqueta will now likely return to East London ahead of schedule.
Every West Ham fan will then have their fingers crossed that he is not hit with any sort of suspension amid the ongoing betting charge case.
In other West Ham news, Paqueta has been tipped to push for a move away from London Stadium.
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