English media reacts to West Ham United ace Lucas Paqueta in Brazil loss v Croatia
West Ham United maestro Lucas Paqueta went missing in Brazil’s World Cup defeat to Croatia on 9 December, with the Brazilians crashing out of the tournament.
The game was one to forget for Paqueta and his Brazilian teammates with the game ending 1-1 after extra time, ultimately resulting in Brazil losing on penalties.
Paqueta didn’t put in his best showing in a game that saw little Brazilian flair, but what did the English media make of the maestro’s outing?
The Independent gave Paqueta a match rating of 8, claiming the West Ham United maestro was “impressive throughout”.
90min wasn’t so kind, giving the maestro a match rating of 4, saying the midfielder gave “an acre of space for Croatia’s midfield to dance around in in the first half.”
The Evening Standard gave Paqueta a match rating of 6, saying the Brazilian “didn’t do a lot wrong” in his country’s woeful defeat.
The Daily Mail gave Paqueta a match rating of 7 despite an “anonymous first-half performance”.
Mixed bag.
So it seems the English media were divided on Paqueta’s performance for Brazil on 9 December, but it’s clear by his country’s loss that he didn’t do much.
Selfishly, the Hammers star returning to London in sufficient time for the return of the Premier League is a good thing, but he’ll be needed to be back to his very best.
The Brazilian will likely be extremely downcast and it’s up to everyone at the club to now get the maestro back smiling again at the London Stadium.
Paqueta will likely be bombarded with angst from the Brazilian press, who haven’t seemed to react as nicely as the English when it came to his performance in the Quarter Final.
This kind of frustration can be tough for any player to take, let alone from his own compatriots, David Moyes will have a job on his hands to get Paqueta raring to go again.