This week, we’ve seen reports from the Spanish media claiming Aston Villa midfielder Philippe Coutinho would not be going to the World Cup with Brazil.
A story from Sport suddenly claimed that with the player’s disappointing season, he would be left out of Tite’s list, as the manager would pick Flamengo’s Everton Ribeiro instead.
It turns out there’s always been a good relationship between Coutinho and the national team coach.
That’s why, earlier this month, we had already seen Brazilian pundits already saying the Aston Villa player would be in the World Cup because he’s ‘friends’ with the manager.
The outlet features a report saying Brazil’s staff has been in Europe watching some players. And one of the games attended by the manager is Newcastle United vs Aston Villa on Saturday. There, according to the story, he’ll be watching Bruno Guimarães and Philippe Coutinho.
So besides the Villans’ need for better results, the former Liverpool and Barcelona star may have an extra reason to do well in that match.