West Ham United gem Lucas Paqueta wows with ‘beautiful’ moment in Brazil rout
West Ham United star Lucas Paqueta featured for Brazil in their 4-1 thrashing of Paraguay in the Copa America in the early hours of Friday morning (29 June).
The 26-year-old had quite a rollercoaster of a performance as he managed to miss a penalty but nevertheless made a solid impact on the game.
The midfielder managed to get his name onto the scoresheet at the second time of trying alongside Vinicius Junior and Savio.
Despite Brazil surprisingly drawing their opening game, Paqueta carried on his form and produced what was classed as a “creative” performance from the Hammers ace.
GZH rated Paqueta a 7/10 and stated the following: “He repeated his performance from the first game, being creative, and moved closer to the left side to combine plays with Vini and Rodrygo. He also scored a penalty goal after two attempts.”
Goal Brazil, meanwhile, said the following about his performance: “Despite the off-field concerns, Lucas Paqueta continues to perform well with the Canarinho shirt.
“Against Costa Rica, Paqueta was the Brazilian with the most ball action in attack, hit a beautiful shot against the post and did all this without ceasing to be combative without the ball.
“In the rout over Paraguay, despite having missed a penalty when the score was zero, Paqueta gave a beautiful assist for Vini Junior to fill the net and then converted another penalty.”
West Ham United star Lucas Paqueta showcases talent on international stage
It goes without saying that the Brazil international is arguably the best player within West Ham’s ranks.
The midfielder has been pivotal to the side since his arrival from Lyon and his talents are finally being recognised on an international level.
And this is all despite his future still being up in the air at the London Stadium this summer.
With this in mind, Julen Lopetegui could be looking around for potential replacements for the midfielder as, due to the severity of his current saga, officials at West ham “fear” that Paqueta could be sidelined for life [The Athletic, 13 June].
Despite missing his first penalty, he more than made up for it when he stepped up to the plate for Brazil’s second.
Although they have more or less gained advancement to the next stages of Copa America, it still feels like we’re yet to see the best of Brazil.
Should they carry on performing as they are and come up against stronger teams later in the tournament, they may not be as fortunate.
In other West Ham news, an update has been provided by sources close to Mohammed Kudus around his future.
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