Matheus Cunha put his name up in the lights for Brazil against Haiti, scoring twice, and now Harry Maguire has had his say.
Overnight on Friday into Saturday, Brazil took on Haiti in what was a must-win game for Carlo Ancelotti’s side, with Matheus Cunha providing the goods.
Two goals for Cunha see him make history as the first United player to score a brace for the Selecao in a World Cup – a very unique record.
It was a fine performance, with Cunha hailed by Brazilian press for his efforts and was heralded as a huge improvement on Igor Thiago, who started against Morocco to no success.
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Harry Maguire heaps praise on Matheus Cunha after Brazilian performance
Cunha’s first goal was luck, with the defender playing the ball off him, which resulted in a 1-0 lead being claimed. But his second was pure class, latching onto a ball in behind, Cunha finished emphatically into the roof of the net, leaving the goalkeeper zero chance.
Afterwards, speaking on The Rest is Football on Netflix, Harry Maguire was a special guest and given his relationship with Cunha, Gary Lineker was keen to hear his thoughts on the Brazilian number nine.
“I don’t know why my mate Matheus didn’t play in the first game”, Maguire explained during the discussion around the Brazil win.
After being asked what Cunha is like, Maguire issued praise.
“Yeah, he’s a great player, great bloke, great to have around the changing room. Good personality, always smiling, joking around, but he has great ability.”
In November, Cunha declared Maguire was his best friend at United, and maybe the defender is slightly biased, but every United fan will agree with his verdict on Cunha.
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Cunha has the chance to reach superstardom for Brazil this summer
Cunha was unlucky not to start against Morocco for Brazil, with Brentford’s Thiago favoured as more of a traditional number nine.
But after that plan failed, Brazil reverted to their best option of starting Cunha, and it worked well.
Cunha earned his start with his cameo against Morocco and cemented it against Haiti, for more reasons than his two goals.
For Vinicius Junior’s goal, Cunha was key as he dropped in and dragged the defender out for his teammate to have the space to run in behind to score.
Now he has that starting striker role, Cunha has a real chance to transform into superstardom for Brazil with more performances like this and, importantly, goals.
This, of course, is good news for United.
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