Bento in trouble? Taffarel on keeper's error before call-up

Bento in trouble? Taffarel on keeper's error before call-up

Current Brazil national team goalkeeping coach Cláudio Taffarel commented on Bento’s mistake for Al-Nassr this Tuesday (12).

In a brief exchange with ESPN this Wednesday (13), he said he had already contacted the player to talk about the play.

"It was a mistake, yes. I spoke with him, but he has already moved on," said Taffarel, a world champion in 1994 and also Brazil’s starting goalkeeper at the 1998 World Cup.

"That’s how a goalkeeper has to be. That’s what always took me to the national team: I made mistakes, admitted them, and knew where and why I had gone wrong... And then I turned the page. That’s part of the position, they have to be prepared," he added.

Bento made the mistake in the final seconds of the derby against Al-Hilal, scoring an own goal that prevented Al-Nassr from clinching the Saudi title early.

He came off his line to try to clear a throw-in into the penalty area, collided with a teammate, and ended up letting the ball slip away.

Watch the goal below in the match highlights:

Taffarel, however, preferred to downplay it when asked whether the play could weigh on the choice of call-ups for this year’s World Cup.

If a mistake weighed that much, I don’t think I would ever have gone to a World Cup. He has been having a good season there, with consistency, and we are following him closely

Taffarel, Brazil national team goalkeeping coach, commenting on goalkeeper Bento’s mistake in a statement to ESPN

Carlo Ancelotti will announce Brazil’s squad next Monday (18).

According to ESPN, Bento is among the pre-called goalkeepers, along with Alisson (Liverpool), Ederson (Fenerbahçe), Hugo Souza (Corinthians), John (Nottingham Forest) and (Grêmio).