There is an expression Brazilians use when they’re fed up with things not going their way. “Sai, urucubaca,” it goes, a polite invitation for bad luck to leave the building. Brazil is superstitious enough a nation for this to be something you’ll hear quite often.
You couldn’t really hear anything over the cheers at the Allegiant Stadium, but Lucas Paqueta’s body language strongly suggested the phrase was on his lips — or at least on his mind. He ran to the corner flag, hands flicking in a downward motion as if he was expelling some hex from his arteries.
Roughly an hour earlier, he had taken the worst penalty we will see at this Copa America, a stutter-step fiasco that chimed with a growing sense of unease about Brazil’s start to this tournament. Now, though, all was joy and relief: the Selecao were 4-1 to the good against Paraguay and Paqueta had, this time, converted from the spot.
Paqueta failing to convert his first penalty (Ian Maule/Getty Images)
All penalties are gifts but this one came wrapped in gold leaf. Rodrygo initially looked the most likely taker after Mathias Villsanti had handled in the box. Then Vinicius Junior expressed an interest in completing what would have been a memorable hat-trick. That they eventually tagged Paqueta in was a surprise. It was also an act of significant generosity.
For Paqueta, it was a moment of redemption. He looked emotional — more than you might expect, even accounting for that first-half miss.
At which point we should probably address the elephant in the room: Paqueta may well be playing the final few games of his career.
The 26-year-old was charged by the English Football Association last month for alleged breaches of its betting rules. He denied any wrongdoing when he was charged on May 23 and vowed to clear his name. Senior figures at his club, West Ham, fear he faces a lifetime ban from the game if found guilty. Publicly, West Ham have pledged to stand by him. His final hearing is expected to take place in the next couple of months.
Paqueta reacting after not scoring his first attempt from the spot (Ian Maule/Getty Images)
This Copa America looks a lot like a stay of execution, then. Of course, he wants to leave his mark on it.
By full-time in Las Vegas, he had certainly left Paraguay with a few bruises. Paqueta played a part in all four Brazil goals, setting up Vinicius Junior’s opener with a lovely, subtle reverse pass and starting the moves that led to the second and third. “It was a very special game for me,” he said after the match.
It was the kind of performance that underlined his importance to this side. Paqueta only returned to the squad in March after a nine-month absence — previous coach Fernando Diniz did not want to pick him with the FA investigation overhead — but has been Brazil’s standout player across the six games since, bringing a creative spark that had been sorely lacking, particularly with Neymar out injured.
Whatever your value judgement on Paqueta the person, it would take a heart of steel not to be seduced by what he does on the pitch. He is a conjurer, an ideas man, a trader in through balls, backheels and nutmegs — all the good things in football and in life, essentially. He is more of an aesthete than an athlete.
Paqueta being given the chance to take the second penalty (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)
All of which would make it annoying, frankly, if things go the way many people expect them to. We should be enjoying this stuff for years to come. Whatever moral opprobrium comes his way in the months ahead will be followed by a secondary wave of exasperation from those who enjoy his low-slung, insouciant charms.
That is not Paqueta’s chief concern, of course. Indeed, he claims not to be tormented by the betting case either. “I’m in a happy headspace,” he said before the start of the Copa America. “I’m feeling calm, ready to do what I do on the pitch with confidence and joy.”
Saying that is one thing, but it would take a remarkable feat of mental gymnastics not to think about the future — and, by extension, the present. If this is to be a kind of unwanted swansong, every game now comes with extra layers of significance. “I really wanted to be at this Copa America and be a champion again,” Paqueta said last month.
Paqueta’s relief after scoring (Ian Maule/Getty Images)
He and Brazil are now one step closer. The Paraguay result means that the unexpected draw against Costa Rica is now firmly in the rear-view mirror.
The Selecao can look ahead to the final group game against Colombia, knowing that a win will take them through to the quarter-finals as group winners. A weight has been lifted.
For Paqueta, of course, the outlook is rather more mixed. Against that backdrop, you can perhaps understand why his penalty redemption meant so much to him.
(Top photo: Frederick J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
