Brazil were eliminated from Copa America on Saturday night, despite Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli netting in their penalty shootout against Uruguay.
Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli had barely featured for Brazil at Copa America before Saturday night, only playing seven minutes of their group stage campaign.
Martinelli was left out of the starting lineup once again as Brazil took on Uruguay in their quarter-final match, but he was introduced as a substitute at the pivotal moment of the contest.
With three minutes remaining and no extra time, the match was set to go to penalties, and Martinelli was subbed on with the intention that he would take one.
The shootout did not go well for Brazil, with Eder Militao missing their first and Douglas Luiz missing their third.
Martinelli may have missed the chance to take one entirely, if not for Alisson saving Uruguay’s fourth penalty. That save left the scores at 3-1, with Brazil having two penalties left.
The Arsenal 23-year-old had to score or Brazil would be out. And he did, powering an effort past Sergio Rochet in the Uruguay net.
Martinelli delivers big for Brazil 🇧🇷#CopaAmerica pic.twitter.com/9dmQqDEIoI
— Jared Carver (@JC_AFC) July 7, 2024
Sadly, that still left Uruguay with the chance to win the tie with their next kick, and Manuel Ugarte took the opportunity to send them to the semi-finals.
Martinelli will now begin his summer holidays, along with Gabriel Magalhaes, who made just one brief substitute appearance at the tournament.