SOCCER
Freshman on the green and yellow team, defender made ambitious plans and talked about playing in a World Cup
Published on November 17, 2024 at 3:21 pm
Murillo in training at Barradão Credit: Rafael Ribeiro/CBF
Freshman in the Brazilian National Team, defender Murillo, from Nottingham Forest, said his first call-up was the opportunity to spend time with some players he usually uses in video games, such as striker Vinicius Jr., from Real Madrid, and goalkeeper Ederson, from Manchester City. .
“All the players treated me very well. I hope to have contact to learn more about their story and tell a little about mine”, said the 22-year-old player revealed by Corinthians and who has been in England since August 2023.
Murillo said he was sleeping when coach Dorival Jr. made the call for the games against Venezuela and Uruguay for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. “I had just arrived from training, I was resting and I asked my wife to let me know, wake up, because I wanted to see the convocation”, he said, adding that she fell asleep too. “But she woke up first and told me: ‘You were called up, congratulations’. I was very happy.”
Starting at Nottingham Forest, a small team in England and making a surprising start to the season with the same number of points as giants like Chelsea and Arsenal (19) in the English Championship, Murillo is making ambitious plans for the national team. “(I want) to establish myself here and show why I deserved to be here. And continue doing an excellent job so that, if God allows it, I can play in a World Cup for the national team,” he said, who was on the bench against Venezuela.
In Dorival Júnior’s team, Murillo is currently competing for a place with Marquinhos, Gabriel Magalhães and Léo Ortiz. Marquinhos and Gabriel Magalhães formed the starting duo in the draw with Venezuela and are expected to remain in the team against Uruguay, on Tuesday, in Salvador. Léo Ortiz has been called up on other occasions, but has not yet played for the national team.
Murillo also spoke about working in England, which has the hottest national championship in the world. “It’s a dream. It’s a great championship and for me, today, it’s the best in the world. All games are competitive, they have their difficulty, none of them are easy, sometimes the last one beats the first. It’s very competitive, the championship has great players”, said he, who was on the field in every possible minute in Nottingham Forest’s 11 games and scored one goal.
Furthermore, Nottingham Forest is the team with the second best defense in English, with 10 conceded, behind only the leader Liverpool, which was conceded only 6 times.
