- Brazil rallied from behind twice to draw 3–3 against Spain in a dramatic friendly match at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night.
In a dramatic friendly match at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night, Brazil rallied from behind twice to draw 3–3 against Spain.
La Roja seized the lead thanks to goals in the first half from Rodri and Dani Olmo. However, five minutes before the break, Rodrygo took advantage of a defensive error to give the Selecao a response.
In the 87th minute, Manchester City star Rodri appeared to have won it for Luis de la Fuente’s team when he converted his second penalty of the match. However, five minutes after the break, teenage phenom Endrick came off the substitutes’ bench to restore parity for Brazil.
But Lucas Paqueta of West Ham United got the last laugh as he stepped up to score a thrilling penalty in the 96th minute to force a sharing of the points between the two teams in Madrid.
Rodri was brought back into the starting lineup against Brazil after being rested for Spain’s 1-0 loss to Colombia the previous weekend. He did not waste any time in making an impression, scored the game’s first goal in the 12th minute from the penalty spot.
Rodri battles the ball with Rodrygo. Photo/ Capital News
Joao Gomes of Brazil hauled down 16-year-old Lamine Yamal, giving the hosts the opportunity to take a spot kick. Rodri calmly finished right down the center to give Spain the lead.
After a dominating stretch from Spain in which Nico Williams and Fabian Ruiz both missed the mark, Olmo’s golden moment in the 36th minute was ultimately needed to increase the hosts’ lead.
The raptorous home fans were thrilled when the RB Leipzig striker, positioned inside the penalty box, nutmegged one Brazilian, danced past another, and curled a fantastic left-footed goal into the far corner.
While Spain appeared to be in complete control, Dorival Junior’s Brazil created some excitement just before the half ended. Real Madrid forward Rodrygo, who was playing at the Bernabeu and was playing on familiar ground, took advantage of a disastrous error from goalkeeper Unai Simon and coolly chipped the Athletic Bilbao player from the edge of the box.
Brazil made four substitutions during halftime, one of them being the 17-year-old Endrick, who will soon play striker for Real Madrid and scored the game-winning goal in last weekend’s 1-0 triumph over England at Wembley Stadium.
The teenage sensation made an immediate impression on the South American powerhouses, as he equalized the score five minutes after the restart by pouncing on an attempted headed clearance by Aymeric Laporte after a corner and blasting a left-footed volley into the bottom corner past Simon’s gloves.
Although De la Fuente’s team maintained most of the possession, they wasted a lot of chances in the last third, and Brazil were dangerous when they counterattacked.
Brazil vs Spain. Photo/ Reuters
But Spain’s perseverance in the last third was ultimately rewarded when referee Antonio Nobre signaled for a penalty when Dani Carvajal was hauled down by Lucas Beraldo after he met a perfectly-weighted through-ball into the area from Yamal.
Rodri opted to blast his second attempt from 12 yards into the far left after landing his initial spot kick down the middle. This sent Bento reeling as he celebrated scoring only his third international goal on his 49th appearance for La Roja.
But Brazil would not go down without a fight, and deep into stoppage time, the game’s drama continued when substitute Galeno, who had only been on the field for slightly over ten minutes, was hauled to the ground by Carvajal, who grabbed the Brazilian’s leg, forcing referee Nobre to award the game’s third penalty.
Paqueta had to score with almost the final kick of the match to salvage a tie for Brazil, even though it was a friendly. The West Ham player made no mistakes from 12 yards out, hopping, skipping, and jumping before sending Simon the wrong way.
The following matches for both countries are scheduled for June 4—a friendly between Spain and the European minnows Andorra—and June 5—a match between Brazil and Mexico.
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