Chelsea winger Estêvão said he followed orders and allowed teammate Lucas Paquetá to take Brazil‘s second penalty in Tuesday’s 1-1 friendly draw with Tunisia.
Estêvão, 18, had converted a penalty in the 44th minute of the encounter in Lille, France, to level the score, 1-1.
When Brazil were awarded another spot-kick in the 77th minute, substitute Paquetá and not Estêvão was chosen by coach Carlo Ancelotti to take it. The West Ham star struck his attempt over the crossbar.
“It was an order that came,” Estêvão said.
“I really wanted to take the spot-kick but the order came in. I supported my teammate so he could score the goal. Unfortunately, he missed, but heads held high, we have to train, improve because in a World Cup we have to take advantage of these opportunities.”
Ancelotti explained his decision.
“For the second penalty, I changed penalty taker because I wanted to take some of the pressure off Estêvão, so I put Paquetá in, who usually takes them very well,” Ancelotti said after the game.
Paquetá apologised for the penalty miss.
“I apologise for the missed penalty,” he said. “I’m sad. We probably would have won with that penalty. I’m very used to scoring at my club, I have great successes. Unfortunately, my anxiety to score made me make a decision before that final touch, so I think that’s what took me away from taking the penalty as I usually do and I ended up not converting it.
“I’ll try to put myself in those circumstances to improve in that sense, to convert in the next opportunity and help the team.”
While Brazil ended the year without a win, Estêvão focused on the positives.
Estêvão joined Chelsea from Palmeiras for £29 million ($38.6m) in the summer and quickly adapted to life in the Premier League.
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He has scored five goals in 11 appearances for Brazil.
“It’s been a very special year,” he said. “I don’t think I had many ups and downs, but I was able to handle everything that happened. Being here with the national team means that the work has been done well at the club and at home, so I’m very happy to represent the national team.
“Obviously, we always come here to help, and I’m very happy about that.”
