Brazil U20 Scouting Report 2022 – 3 Emerging Gems In Brazilian Football (Robert Renan, Matheus Nascimento, Marcos Leonardo, Andrey Santos, Vitor Roque)

Brazil U20’s recent fixtures served to showcase some of the hottest talents in Brazilian football.

Most notably, Brazil U20’s 7-0 win over Uruguay U20 saw a dominant and organised collective performance with individual brilliance all around.

While some of these players are first-team regulars at their clubs, others are still in the youth academy.

Besides Man City’s Kayky and Real Madrid’s Vinicius Tobias, who already play in Europe, most of these players are just now breaking into the global spotlight.

This analysis aims to identify and examine three players who not only stood out for their performances but, in my opinion, have essential attributes to succeed at a higher level.

These attributes extend beyond raw talent, facilitating their tactical adaptation and engagement at a more competitive level.

Many Brazilian prospects, despite their outstanding technical ability, struggle to perform effectively in more tactically competitive scenarios.

Contrastingly, these players demonstrate enough tactical awareness and consistency to project the opposite.

In this analysis, three individual scout report sections will examine each player’s strengths and characteristics.

Through both statistical and tactical analysis, these scout reports aim to provide a complete overview of the players’ styles, even within their teams tactics.

Finally, we will also highlight a few other promising players worth mentioning.

Andrey Santos Scouting Report

Andrey Santos is the heart of this Brazil U20 side.

As the captain, Andrey commands the midfield and, consequently, the team throughout all four phases.

Additionally, despite having just turned 18, the deep-lying midfielder has become a regular squad player in Vasco’s first team.

His consistent performances in such important roles have already attracted the attention of some of the world’s biggest clubs.

According to reports, the Carioca is wanted by PSG’s Director of Football Luís Campos.

The 18-year-old is a complete defensive midfielder with the ability to contribute to all four phases.

Vasco are hardly a possession-based side, with 50.97% average possession and 333.85 passes per 90.

Consequently, we are able to see, through his statistics, a clear and balanced performance throughout the four phases.

Defensively, Andrey performs very well with 10.49 successful defensive actions per 90 and winning 65.08% of his defensive duels in the Série B 2022.

Against Uruguay, specifically, Andrey won all of his five defensive duels.

He is also quite intelligent at reading the game, with 6.77 possession-adjusted interceptions per 90.

In addition to being quite successful in his actions, he is quite literally everywhere on the pitch.

Against Uruguay, as shown below, the midfielder executed 53 actions throughout the pitch.

In possession, Andrey plays a key role in the build-up and progression.

While on paper, Brazil played with a double pivot, Andrey would drop much deeper and act as a single pivot, dictating the tempo and controlling the build-up.

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