Estevao Willian scores again, people. As if anyone would have bet against that, right?
The rising star scored for the Brazil national side to help them beat Senegal 2-0 in a friendly on Saturday, and it was a very typical Estevao finish in off the right.
He arrived into the box as the ball dropped to him to put in a lovely curling effort into the top corner.
Joao Pedro also came off the bench and played in this game, and Nicolas Jackson obviously played for Senegal too, for the Chelsea involvement.
Football London watched on and rated the players:
Estevao – ‘The winger scored his fourth goal in the colours of the Selecao. Despite the defence thinking they’d got their foot to the ball, it squirmed out to the right, where a waiting Estevao beautifully curled a strike with his left foot around Edouard Mendy.
‘Was a delight to watch throughout the game and sent a clear statement to Enzo Maresca as to his credentials to establish himself on the Chelsea right. 8.’
Joao Pedro – ‘Came on in the second half to play up top. Couldn’t really get into the game and was frustrated with a lack of service. 5.’
Andrey Santos was an unused sub.
Brazil boss and former Blue Carlo Ancelotti was raving about Estevao after the game though.
He said:
“He’s a very talented player. He is able to show every game, in Chelsea too, and he doesn’t need a lot of minutes to show his quality.
“He can play five minutes and he can show his quality. I think the Brazil national team is really lucky to have him, and also Chelsea.
“With Estevão, Brazil has a guaranteed future. The amount of talent he has is incredible.
“Estevão has incredible amount of talent. It’s a surprise this level at his age. He’s good at finishing, has a lot of ‘magic’… and he works very hard.”
And that last bit for me is the most important bit. Players can have all the talent in the world and be the best techy players, but if they have that hard work rate as well as the technical qualities, then they are always going to stand out even more and be loved by their managers. I think you need both these aspects in modern football. I love how hard Estevao works just as much as how skilful he is. He is physical and is not afraid to put himself about – that’s amazing for an 18-year-old and one of the reasons I’ve been so impressed with him.
