Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimaraes confirmed on Wednesday that he would have executed the penalty kick he missed during Brazil's 1-2 loss to Norway in the 16-final round of the 2026 World Cup "a thousand times more."
The English Arsenal player returns to the Brazilian national team to play the first friendly matches since the World Cup, which witnessed the worst participation of the five world champions in the World Cup since the Italian edition in 1990, when they were eliminated from the competition in the same round.
The Seleção will face Australia on Friday in Townsville, then next Tuesday in Brisbane, before meeting India on October 3 in Calcutta.
The player said during a press conference in Brisbane, where Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti’s team is holding its camp: “If I get another penalty kick and am tasked with implementing it, I will not hide. "I would do it a thousand more times if I had to, because wearing this shirt means everything to me."
He added: “Missing a penalty kick is part of football, but you are never prepared when it happens. “It is a wound, it is a scar, and it still hurts me,” but he stressed that “you must learn from mistakes.” In reference to the kick he missed when the score was a goalless draw.
He also responded to the criticism directed at Vinicius Junior for not executing that kick in the first quarter-hour of the confrontation against Norway in New Jersey, saying: “I was the one who was chosen to execute it.”
Ancelotti had explained after the match that, based on the statistics of players taking penalty kicks, he entrusted this task “first to Neymar, then Rafinha, Bruno Guimarães, and Gabriel Martinelli.” However, the first two were not on the field during the first half.
This new appearance with the national team coincides with his move to Arsenal from Newcastle in a deal estimated by the media at approximately 87.5 million euros (about 100 million dollars).
He said: “I am focusing a lot (...) I want to leave my mark” at the London club.
International winger Bukayo Saka said that the England national team still bears an “internal scar” after the painful defeat in the World Cup semi-finals against Argentina.
The England national team will begin its campaign in the European Nations League by facing Spain, the world champion, at Wembley Stadium on September 26, just nine weeks after conceding two late goals in a harsh loss to Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, in the semi-finals in Atlanta.
Saka then scored a hat-trick as England beat France 6-4 to secure third place in the World Cup.
But the 25-year-old Arsenal winger explained that the pain of failing to win the first major title for the English men's national team since winning the World Cup on home soil in 1966 is still deep.
“It is clear that the scar is still there inside us,” Saka told the BBC on Wednesday. “When you believed, and everyone was so united and confident that we could achieve it, not just us, but the entire country.”
He continued: “We are now trying to turn the page and focus on the new international season and what awaits us during it. "You try to move on as quickly as possible, but the scar remains a scar, and it only heals when it's time to heal."
He added: “But as I said, we are here in a new international season, and we have four difficult and very important matches in the group stage in order to qualify in the Nations League, and this is what we are completely focused on.”
Saka suffered an Achilles tendon injury throughout the World Cup in North America, and remained on the bench during the defeat to Argentina in the semi-finals, after England coach Thomas Tuchel preferred to make defensive substitutions in an attempt that did not succeed in maintaining a 1-0 lead.
Tuchel was subjected to severe criticism for his tactical style, after the England national team retreated to defend its lead against Argentina before collapsing in the final minutes in Atlanta.
“We have conducted critical reviews, which will of course remain behind closed doors,” the German said when announcing England’s squad for the Nations League last week, as he seeks to lead the team to the 2028 European Cup title.
The 53-year-old coach continued: “I am my harshest critic of myself, and sometimes reflection is necessary in order to improve, and experience is an essential part of the training process.”
The 2028 European Cup will be jointly organized by England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
The German capital, Berlin, intends to withdraw its bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, according to information obtained by the German News Agency.
Following a meeting that included Kai Wegner, Mayor of the German capital, Berlin, Iris Spranger, the local Minister of the Interior, and Kawe Niermand, Commissioner for Olympic Affairs, the Senate in Berlin (the state government) initially refrained from commenting, but called for a press conference on Thursday.
This decision comes three days before the extraordinary meeting of the German Olympic Sports Federation scheduled for next Saturday, where the body will choose the German city nominated to host the Olympic Games in the years 2036, 2040 and 2044. Only the city of Munich and the Rhine-Ruhr region remain in the race.
Within the framework of the “Berlin+” initiative, the city was cooperating with the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, but Berlin’s hopes of hosting the Olympic Games were dealt a severe blow after the “Left” Party topped the results of the elections that took place last Sunday in the German capital.
Elif Eralp, who is expected to take over as the next mayor of the city, said that she made it very clear that she considers the Olympic bid, and the accompanying spending of “millions and billions more,” to be “a waste of taxpayers’ money,” and that she does not see “any benefit for Berlin” from it.
20 members of the Board of Trustees of the Berlin Olympic Bid, which includes representatives from the sectors of politics, business, sports, civil society and religious institutions, sent a letter to Eralb requesting a dialogue.
However, according to Niromand, Eralp did not respond to the letter or other offers for talks.
Eralp's statements and refusal to hold talks sparked sharp criticism from Bob Hanning, managing director of the Füxe Berlin handball team.
“She has not yet taken office, and yet she makes such a statement,” Hanning said. “It is very disgraceful and rude.”
Hanning added angrily: “If you say you want to unite the community, and then the Berlin Board of Trustees asks you to hold a meeting and you respond with such a blatant insult, this is undemocratic, shameful and cannot be justified in any way.”
Berlin competes with both Munich and the Rhine-Ruhr region, as experts from the German Olympic Sports Federation evaluated the competing cities' files with higher scores than the capital's file, yesterday, Tuesday.
Munich received 87 points out of 100, while the Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr region received 85 points, with both being rated “very good,” while Berlin scored 6.74 points, achieving a “good” rating.
