'He is a better penalty taker than me, so the coach chose Bruno': Vinicius

Did Brazil lose because of a missed penalty? The question is being asked. Alongside it, another question arises: who is responsible for this miss? The one who missed it, Bruno Guimaraes, certainly has his share of blame. However, many are also pointing fingers at Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti.

Criticism of Ancelotti's tactics may now intensify. Brazil's best performer in this tournament, Vinicius Junior, has made it clear that he was also ready to take the penalty.

After Brazil's 2-1 defeat to Norway in the last-16 in New Jersey, Vinicius said, "The coach decides before the match who will take the penalty. He chose Bruno. I never had any arrogance. I never thought I had to be the tournament's top scorer. That's why Bruno took the penalty. He is a better penalty taker than me, so the coach chose Bruno. That's all. But I never shied away from responsibility."

The four-goal scorer in this tournament added, "Some may say I didn't want to take the penalty. But I am not the type to run away from responsibility. At Real Madrid, when the coach chooses me, I take the penalty. We need to prepare better for the next World Cup and the matches ahead."

Vinicius has scored 13 of the 19 penalties he has taken in his career. However, he has scored only one of the three penalties he has taken for Brazil. In contrast, Guimaraes has taken only three penalties in his entire career. While he scored all of them, he had never taken a penalty for Brazil before.

Ancelotti explained after the match that the decision on who takes penalties had been finalised by the technical staff after long discussions. In that order, Guimaraes was ahead of Vinicius and even Martinelli.

None of the others on the list were on the pitch at the time. On this matter, Ancelotti said, "The best was Neymar. Then Igor Thiago, then Raphinha, and then Bruno Guimaraes. Martinelli was after all of them. We chose Bruno because among the players on the pitch, we felt he was the best."