Latest News
International round-up: Assist for Guimarães against Almirón's Paraguay
New signing Bruno Guimarães registered an assist as Brazil recorded an emphatic 4-0 win over Miguel Almirón's Paraguay in the early hours of Wednesday.
Midfielder Guimarães, who joined the Magpies from French side Lyon last week, started on the bench for the Seleção for the World Cup qualifier in Belo Horizonte, while Almirón was deployed from the outset as the visitors looked to salvage some hope of qualifying for this year’s tournament.
But it turned into a procession for the hosts – who have already made sure of their place in Qatar – and they led before the half hour when Rafinha opened the scoring at Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto.
Philippe Coutinho doubled their advantage after the break before Guimarães entered the fray as a substitute for the Aston Villa loanee with just over quarter of an hour remaining.
And a late double added further gloss to the scoreline, as Antony made it 3-0 on 86 minutes and United’s new boy provided the fourth for Real Madrid's Rodrygo just a couple of minutes later.
It was an enjoyable first international appearance as a Newcastle player for the playmaker but an outing to forget for Almirón, who played the full 90 minutes.
Both players will now travel to Tyneside ahead of Tuesday’s Premier League clash with Everton at St. James’ Park.
Another new arrival, Chris Wood, missed out on the chance to become New Zealand's all-time lead goalscorer as their friendly with Uzbekistan was called off due to positive Covid-19 cases in the All Whites’ camp.
Former Burnley frontman Wood – who is just one goal away from equalling Vaughan Coveny’s record of 29 for his country – netted in their friendly defeat to Jordan last week, but Tuesday's postponement denied him the chance to add to his tally.