Raphinha reveals ingredient for team success after Leeds United star dazzles for Brazil

The Whites ace wowed Leeds fans watching from afar after putting in another impressive display for Brazil in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Raphinha gave his side, who have already qualified for Qatar 2022, a 28th-minute lead with a wonderful opener, controlling a long ball from Marquinhos with ease before turning a defender and sending a low shot into the bottom corner.

The Seleção swept Paraguay aside with a 4-0 win, though Raphinha gave cause for concern in the final ten minutes when a heavy challenge by Júnior Alonso caused the United attacker to be substituted off.

In his post-match interview, Raphinha explained which ingredient was important to the success of his team, who have stormed to the top of the South American World Cup qualification group.

"With the players showing confidence, everything is easier," Raphinha said.

"I think it was our way of imposing the rhythm of the game, not letting them control the match.

"From the first minute we looked for our way of playing, with acceleration, individual balls.

"Defensively we helped a lot too. We got a good game from the first minute.

"It was a very good game, both individually and collectively.

"I'm very happy to have scored, but also very happy that we kept that footprint and came out with the victory."

The Whites attacker looked to have put his side ahead inside two minutes, when he breezed past two defenders to put the ball in the net before an extensive VAR check ruled that the opener be chalked off for a handball.

But Raphinha refused to let the disappointment throw him off his game, he explained in his post-match interview.

"It's difficult for you to score, celebrate, have that special moment and then the referee invalidates it in VAR," the 25-year-old said.

"But it's very important to keep the focus within the match so that another opportunity arises to be there to score."

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