When Chelsea loanee Andrey Santos was called up by Brazil interim manager Ramon Menezes for the friendly against Morocco, there was no big deal about it.
The coach had previously worked with the midfielder for the U20 team, and with the youngster being an obvious talent, it was normal that he’d get a chance at the national team in this new cycle.
It turns out that Andrey was a starter and Brazil lost. And amid the rage from the local media about the result, UOL pundit Walter Casagrande goes in heavy on the player’s presence.
There it’s pointed out how many fans and journalists believe Menezes only used Andrey so he could gain more points to be granted a work permit to play for Chelsea.
Casagrande makes sure not to directly accuse the coach and therefore avoids any legal issue, but does write that the manager seems to have ‘worked’ on the Blues’ side to speed up the visa issue, saying it was ‘absurd’ that he played instead of Fluminense’s André.
As the pundit himself points out, many journalists in Brazil have been saying the same. Especially because Andrey Santos didn’t do well and is clearly not ready to start for Brazil. That makes his presence ‘weird’.
In the past couple of days, a few stories in the Brazilian media pointed out that with the player’s appearance in this friendly, he only needs to play for Vasco in the first division and will soon have the necessary points to feature for Chelsea.
