Gabriel Magalhaes was substituted off on his debut for Brazil with a knock, but the early signs appear to suggest it’s not a serious injury problem.

After a long wait, Gabriel Magalhaes finally made his debut for Brazil in their World Cup qualifier against Bolivia on Friday night.

The match went well on an individual and team basis, with Brazil leading 4-1 when Gabriel was withdrawn. They added a fifth goal in injury time to complete a dominant opening qualification fixture.

The Arsenal centre-back completed 93% of his passes and even technically created a big chance, although Neymar did almost all of the work to forge the opportunity for himself.

Gabriel also won all three of his individual ground duels, making three clearances, one interception, and one tackle without being dribbled past once.

Yet the appearance ended earlier than the defender would have hoped, as he came off in the 84th minute with an injury concern.

After being substituted, Gabriel could be seen with an ice pack on his leg, raising further concerns about a serious issue.

But Dr. Rajpal Brar writes on Twitter that the thigh issue sounds like it was contact related, rather than a muscle pull, which would be good news for the 25-year-old.

Arsenal fans will be concerned nonetheless, with Gabriel only just having come back into the team against Manchester United.

The centre-back caught the eye playing Alejandro Garnacho offside, and supporters were excited to see a return to the back four that was so successful last season, as Oleksandr Zinchenko also returned to the team.

With any luck, Gabriel’s problem will turn out to be nothing serious and he can be involved again over the international break, before returning to play for Arsenal against Everton at Goodison Park next weekend.