Dorival Junior will get things right despite Brazil's underwhelming start to the Copa America, believes left-back Guilherme Arana, as the Selecao prepare to face Paraguay.
Brazil were held to a frustrating goalless draw by Costa Rica in their opening Group D match on Monday, losing ground on Colombia, who started with a win over Paraguay.
While Dorival praised aspects of his team's performance in that match, he acknowledged more will be needed in the final third if the Selecao are to challenge for a 10th South American crown.
Atletico Mineiro full-back Arana, who played the full 90 minutes last time out, praised Dorival's approach as he opened up on the coach's reaction to the result.
"As soon as we entered the dressing room, he praised our pressing after we lost the ball, it was very good, we didn't concede anything defensively," Arana said.
"He encouraged us, gave us morale. I think that's the thought not only of him but of all the players.
"The result of the debut was bad, but we still have two games to go. In other words, two great opportunities. That's the thinking.
"Of course it's a new job, Dorival arrived recently, the players are new too, but we're focused together with him.
"Dorival knows what he's doing, he's an excellent coach and he's going to help us a lot."
Paraguay were beaten 2-1 by Colombia in their opener, leaving them likely needing to cause an upset to have any chance of reaching the quarter-finals.
Head coach Daniel Garnero believes there were plenty of positives to take from that match, saying: "We have a clear idea of our gameplan and the feeling is that we competed at all times.
"I think it was an even game, we did not manage to bring home the points but we tried to match our opponents.
"With Argentina [and Colombia], these were the two teams that arrived at the Copa with great superiority.
"There were many positive elements and when we take stock of this match we'll see this."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Paraguay – Julio Enciso
Enciso attempted 11 dribbles against Colombia in Paraguay's Copa America opener, the joint-most of any player in the opening round of fixtures at the tournament (tied with Richard Ríos of Colombia).
The Brighton and Hove Albion player completed six of them, the second-highest figure in the first round, behind Rios' eight.
By netting his nation's consolation goal, he became the second-youngest player to score for Paraguay at a major tournament this century (20 years, 153 days), after Ernesto Cristaldo versus Chile at the 2004 Copa America (20 years, 117 days).
Brazil – Vinicius Junior
Brazil failed to make their superiority count against Costa Rica, making more passes (695) than any other team across the first matchday of the competition, but only registered three shots on target from the 19 they attempted.
Vinicius was withdrawn for future Real Madrid team-mate Endrick 71 minutes in after failing to register a single shot, though he did create a game-high three chances.
He has been substituted in each of the Selecao's last six competitive matches, versus Costa Rica and in three World Cup qualifiers last year, as well as their last two fixtures at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
After scoring 24 goals and adding nine assists for Los Blancos last season, Vinicius will be expecting to produce a better display on Friday.
MATCH PREDICTION: BRAZIL WIN
Brazil recorded 49 entries into Costa Rica's penalty area on matchday one, their joint-highest figure in a Copa America match since such data began being recorded in 2011 (also versus Paraguay in 2019).
More penetration – and better finishing – will be required next time out.
Paraguay have not lost any of their last five matches against Brazil at the Copa America, recording one win and four draws.
This equals the second-longest unbeaten streak against Brazil in the history of the tournament, behind Argentina's eight-match run between 1923 and 1946 (seven wins, one draw), tied with Paraguay's own streak between 1963 and 1983 (two wins, three draws).
However, Paraguay have only won one of their last six games in all competitions (two draws, three defeats), so Dorvial's team go into the match as strong favourites.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Paraguay – 13.4%
Brazil – 69.6%
Draw – 17%
Sergino Dest has completed a permanent move to PSV from Barcelona, signing a four-year contract with the club.
The defender joined PSV on loan at the start of last season, helping them to win their first Eredivisie title in six years.
He made 37 appearances in all competitions, scoring two goals and adding seven assists.
PSV's loan deal for Dest included a future option to buy, with the Dutch side now choosing to trigger that, signing him on a free transfer that will keep him at the club until 2028.
"PSV believe in me and I feel greatly appreciated here," said Dest.
"I'm really looking forward to playing again, being important and winning titles."
Dest joined Barcelona from Ajax in 2020, making 51 league appearances in his first two seasons before loan spells at Milan in 2022-23 and PSV.
De la Fuente determined not to underestimate Georgia
Luis de la Fuente says Spain will not make the mistake of underestimating Euro 2024 surprise package Georgia in the round of 16.
Spain cruised through the so-called 'group of death', winning all three of their games against Croatia, Italy and Albania without conceding a single goal.
Meanwhile, Georgia progressed as one of the best third-place teams after stunning Euro 2016 champions Portugal with a 2-0 victory in their final group game.
La Roja also met Georgia in Euro 2024 qualifying, earning a memorable 7-1 victory in the away fixture.
However, De la Fuente was quick to praise the improvement in their opponents since that meeting, noting that Spain had to expect a bigger challenge this time around.
"It was a very important game for us, we arrived [in Georgia] under a lot of pressure, and we came back from that game as a family, a lot stronger than before," said De la Fuente.
"The most important game is always the next one and now a different European Championship starts. We are bracing for a very difficult game, and we will go with the best weapons we have to get out with a win.
"We all have seen surprising things happen in football and I don't think that will stop happening.
"Georgia beat Portugal, we have to respect them as opponents, work hard and take the game with the importance that it has so it doesn't happen to us.
"They are fast in the counter-attack and very good in the set-pieces. We need to be vigilant and aware, so we don't end up exposed to counter-attacks in speed."
Euro 2024 data dive: Holders make early exit, hosts keep charging forward
The knockout rounds of Euro 2024 got underway on Saturday, with the first two teams booking their places in the quarter-finals.
Switzerland stunned the defending champions, sending Italy home after a 2-0 victory in Berlin.
Later, Germany also prevailed by the same scoreline to take a step closer to potential success on home soil, beating Denmark.
Here, we round up the best Opta statistics from the first set of Euro 2024 round-of-16 ties.
Switzerland 2-0 Italy: Vargas ends Azzurri defence
The teams on Switzerland's side of the draw will be looking over their shoulders after they dumped Italy out, largely thanks to Ruben Vargas' standout performance.
He set up Remo Freuler's opener before curling in a stunning effort himself, becoming the first Swiss player to score and assist in a knockout match of a major tournament on record (since 1966 - World Cup and Euros).
The winger's strike came just 27 seconds after kick-off in the second period, the second-fastest goal in the second half of a Euros match after Marcel Coras netted against West Germany within 21 seconds in Euro 1984.
Switzerland will face either England or Slovakia in the quarter-finals, reaching the last eight in consecutive editions after failing to make it out of their group in three of their previous four participations in the competition (reached the last 16 in 2016).
Despite being reigning champions, Italy were not touted as one of the favourites going into the tournament, and they struggled to mount a real title defence.
Their early exit means the reigning champions have been eliminated in the round of 16 at each of the last three European Championships, with Portugal losing to Belgium at Euro 2020 and Spain going out to Italy at Euro 2016.
In fact, Italy conceded more goals at Euro 2024 (five) than they did in seven matches at the last edition of the tournament, when they conceded just four goals on their way to lifting the trophy.
The Azzurri have ended a run of six games without defeat in the knockout stages (90 minutes only, three wins, three draws), with their last such defeat coming in the 2012 final against Spain, by a 4-0 scoreline.
This is also the first time they have lost more than one match at a single edition of the Euros.
Germany 2-0 Denmark: Musiala draws level in scoring charts
With plenty of VAR drama, and a break midway through the first half due to adverse weather, it was certainly an entertaining tie in Dortmund.
Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala were the heroes for the hosts with their second-half goals, with the latter netting for the third time in the tournament to put him level with Georges Mikautadze in the Golden Boot race.
In fact, only Wayne Rooney (four) has scored more goals aged 21 or younger at the Euros than Musiala (three), while the midfielder has also scored more goals in four games at this tournament than he managed in his first 29 appearances for the national side (two).
Germany are into their first quarter-final at a major tournament since Euro 2016 - reaching the semi-finals on that occasion - and their four-game unbeaten run at Euro 2024 is their longest streak in such matches since then.
Manuel Neuer continues to break appearance records every time he steps on the pitch - he now has the most caps at the European Championships for Die Nationalelf (19, overtaking Bastian Schweinsteiger), while it was his 39th appearance at major tournaments overall, levelling the midfielder's tally.
After another toothless performance in front of goal, Denmark will not be able to recreate their run to the semi-finals of Euro 2020. Indeed, they have failed to win any of their last eight games at major tournaments (four draws, four defeats).
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