Bruno Guimaraes: Brazil shirt comes with a lot of pressure

In an interview with FIFA+, midfielder Bruno Guimaraes explains how his mentality changed after wearing the Brazil shirt for the first time:

- Everyone dreams of wearing their country’s jersey, and when you put it on for the first time you say: ‘Wow, I look so damn good in this! (laughs) It’s everything you ever wanted and you start to see things in a different way. I told myself: ‘I have to play well. I’m a Brazil player now. I can’t let my level drop. I want to take on everyone in my path. I want to get the better of them.’

That shirt comes with a lot of pressure when you pull it on. You can’t accept second best, because you’re wearing your country’s colours and you have to be worthy of it. So that’s when you become a real player.

Your mindset changes completely. It changed for me anyway. I don’t accept being average anymore. I always want to be on top of my game. Sometimes, if I have an average game, I get angry with myself and say: ‘I can’t accept that. I want to be one of the best and that means I have to play well.’ I think that was the thing that made me change my mindset.