Marquinhos is not going through the best period of his career. Last night, while Brazil faced Uruguay in Montevideo, the Seleção lost 2 goals to 0. A first since July 1, 2001. A result which also allowed the Celeste to steal second place from the Auriverdes ( 3rd) in the standings for the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. An evening to forget, even if Neymar’s serious knee injury still keeps the Brazilians in suspense. But yesterday, it wasn’t just the Al-Hilal star who experienced a nightmare.
A new poor performance in a flagship match
Starting in central defense, alongside Gabriel, Marquinhos was involved in both Uruguayan goals. Beaten by Araújo, decisive passer for Darwin Núñez (41st), the 29-year-old Parisian was also beaten by the Liverpool player, decisive passer for De la Cruz (71st). Questioned after the match, the PSG captain did not try to shirk. “We are aware that we were very bad in these two matches. The results show it. We know we’re going to get beaten a lot, it’s the Brazilian national team. It’s a matter of concentration and the best thing you can do is react. Talk to each other to improve ourselves. We must be strong, know where we are going. For young players, it’s about digesting the criticism and continuing to work. »
Unsurprisingly, the Brazilian media did him no favors. On GloboesporteMarquinhos was rated 4/10 by journalists and 2/10 by the public. “The most experienced defender on the team delivered a very disappointing performance. He attempted few deep passes when the Brazilians were multiplying passes against the Uruguayan half-press, he made unusual technical errors and he made a mistake on the first goal. It allowed Maxi Araújo to turn around and move forward at full speed to serve Darwin Núñez”, wrote the media. Five days earlier, Marquinhos had been unremarkable during the draw conceded at home against Venezuela (1-1). The Parisian did not make any serious mistakes, but he clearly did everything to avoid taking risks, before being helpless on the opposing equalizer at the end of the match.
A shaken confidence
And here again, his speech was not the most convincing. “The pitch is an internal problem that we need to discuss and that we need to try to improve in order to help us more and more. Like it or not, the state of the land favored Venezuela much more than us. But it is one of the factors, we must not blame everything on this factor. We are aware that we can do much better. We had possession of the ball, we created a few chances, but efficiency is also very important in a match like this, at a high level. »
At a time when he will return to PSG to prepare for the match against Strasbourg and especially the Champions League clash against AC Milan, Marquinhos has not been reassured in the selection. Enough to relaunch the debate on the Brazilian’s contrasting start to the season. Confirmed as captain of PSG at the start of the year, the Auriverde international needed two voting sessions to be sure of keeping the armband. A status which was then called into question from the first match of the season in Ligue 1, when Luis Enrique started him on the sidelines against Lorient (0-0). Finally, during the first test of the season against Newcastle (1-4), Marquinhos collapsed, generating new doubts about his leadership abilities. Heckled captain, will the number 5 of the Rouge et Bleu be able to turn things around?
