Brazil coach Dorival Júnior has revealed he has had a long talk with Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti regarding Endrick’s progress.
Endrick, 18, has scored six goals in 28 appearances since joining Real Madrid from Palmeiras last summer but has only played 494 minutes for the LaLiga side.
The teenage forward, who fears he will not play at the 2026 World Cup because of his lack of playing time, was not included in Dorival’s squad for this month’s World Cup qualifiers but was later named as a replacement for the injured Neymar.
“Endrick has been monitored, and very closely,” Dorival said in Monday’s press conference.
“On this last trip [to Europe], I had a conversation with Ancelotti for about two and a half hours. We talked about many subjects, but mainly about the moment Endrick is going through.
“He has evolved a lot compared to what we knew a year ago. The work at Palmeiras was very well done and accomplished, and Endrick is now much more mature. That’s natural. I believe that, in a year in Europe, this happened. If he had stayed here, he would have evolved a little differently.”
Although Endrick did not feature in Brazil’s 2-1 home win against Colombia in Thursday’s World Cup qualifier, Dorival said his time will come.
“Endrick has been attracting attention in all the training sessions, and now it’s just a matter of time,” he added.
“We need to have a little more possession of the ball with our team, to value this possession more. That’s why I used the characteristics of Joao Pedro and Matheus Cunha, who give us the ability to value, rotate the side of the field, and make sure that our players, with the qualities we have, with their individualities, can take advantage of it.
“But, from the moment we have greater balance and consistency, we can get more out of Endrick and the quality he has.”
Endrick, meanwhile, spoke to Brazil legend Romario about his desire to play at the next World Cup.
“To tell you the truth, what goes through my head a lot is that I’m afraid I won’t be in the World Cup,” he told Romario TV.
“You [Romario] have been through it, too, my dad even told me that you were hoping and didn’t get a call-up [in 1998]. So I have this fear. Because it’s a dream of mine. It’s hard to say because I want to be at the World Cup and help Brazil win its sixth title.
“Of course it’s difficult, being at the biggest club in the world, with the biggest players, and you can’t always have the opportunity to play.
“But whenever I play, I want to be able to show a bit of myself to be in the national team. I hope that next year I can be in the national team and if God wills it, we’ll win the World Cup.”
Endrick has scored three goals in 13 appearances since making his debut for Brazil in November 2023.
Brazil have won six and lost four of their 13 World Cup qualifiers and are third in their South American qualifying group after their 2-1 home win against Colombia.
On Tuesday, they will play in the South American Clásico against Argentina, who are without captain Lionel. Messi.
Brazil have not won in Argentina since 2009.
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