Bruno Guimaraes and Brazil return to winning ways.
A 1-0 home triumph over Ecuador may not appear to be the most significant victory.
However, this was enormous for Bruno Guimaraes, his international colleagues, and the management.
Having lost their last three World Cup group qualifiers, success was desperately needed.
Ecuador faced a team that had gone undefeated in their previous five World Cup qualifiers and had only lost one, 1-0 away to group leaders Argentina in their first game.
Ecuador might have been in an even better position in the South American qualification group for 2026
Bruno Guimaraes started the game in his usual far deeper defensive role for Brazil, than he plays for Newcastle United.
The match settled into a very dour defensive contest, with those in front of the NUFC midfielder struggling to make many chances against tough disciplined opposition.
In the entire match there ended up having been only five efforts on target from the two teams.
Brazil with two in the first half and only one in the second, their victory coming via an effort from Real Madrid’s Rodrygo on 29 minutes.