‘Lack of respect’ - Pundit fumes at Arsenal ace Gabriel Martinelli’s call-up ahead of Qatar World Cup

The Arsenal star has been named as part of Brazil’s 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup
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Brazilian football pundit Neto has shared his anger at Gabriel Martinelli’s call-up for the Qatar World Cup. Tite named the Arsenal winger in his 26-man squad on Monday, with many speculating whether he would miss out.

Martinelli has been one of the Gunners’ best players this season as they sit top of the Premier League, claiming seven goal contributions in 13 matches. The 21-year-old only earned his first international cap in a cameo against Chile in March of this year and has since made another two appearances, though is yet to start for Brazil. Martinelli joins arguably the strongest attack in the World Cup after being named amongst the likes of Neymar, Vinicius Jr and his Arsenal teammate, Gabriel Jesus. With a number of stars unsurprisingly missing out on the squad, Neto was furious at the news that Martinelli was included.

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Speaking on Os Donos da Bola, Neto said: “This is a shame, a joke! I feel ashamed! Not because of Dani Alves’ story. What is Martinelli’s story? 33 career goals. This is a shame, a lack of respect for football.

“Doing this with football shows that you don’t deserve the position you are in. Calling up Martinelli and not calling up Gabigol [Gabriel Barbosa] is heresy, a lack of respect. The biggest shame of all the call-ups.

“Calling up Martinelli shows that you, Tite, shouldn’t hold the position you do, because you’re not fair to Gabigol. The guy (Martinelli) who scores five goals in the season, who walks around the mall here, nobody knows who he is… And not taking Gabigol, the guy who scored the goal of the Libertadores title, who scored 29 goals in the season.”

Gabriel Barbosa has become a favourite in Brazil since spending most of his career with Santos and later joining Flamengo in 2019. The forward has scored over 120 goals for the latter over the past four seasons and has netted four goals in his 16 international caps for Brazil. However, he has been absent from Tite’s squad since the World Cup Qualifiers in January and has only made one appearance in over a year for his national team.

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Gabriel also joins the likes of Lucas Moura, Matheus Cunha and Roberto Firmino who miss out on Brazil’s star-studded attack, with the latter coming as a surprise to many. Martinelli is among a number of wide players who will be jetting off to Qatar, however many criticised Tite’s selection for failing to use the Liverpool forward as back-up for Neymar up top.

Martinelli will kick off his World Cup campaign on November 24 as they face Serbia in their first of three group matches. The Gunners star will be eager to make his full debut on the world’s biggest stage.