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Robson Sharuko

Senior Sports Editor

DOUGLAS LUIZ’S run in the star-studded Brazilian national team on Tuesday night, once again highlights the sheer quality of the rival Marvelous Nakamba has been battling against, for the role of holding midfielder in the Aston Villa starting XI. 

Throughout the past English Premiership season, the Warriors midfielder found himself having to battle the 23-year-old Luiz, for the defensive midfield role, at the Birmingham club. 

The Brazilian won that intense personal battle, with manager Dean Smith, trusting him to protect his defence, in the majority of matches, in the league. 

However, Smith appeared to reserve the toughest matches, where Villa would have to be content with doing most of the defending, especially against the heavyweight clubs, for Nakamba. 

Given the Zimbabwe midfielder’s positional discipline, and his reluctance to be always lured by the excitement of the flow of the attacks or abandon his area, Smith appeared convinced Nakamba would provide more security, in the tougher games, than Luiz. 

However, in the final matches of the campaign, as Luiz’s form dipped, and Smith went in search of changes to freshen up his team, in search for good results, Nakamba was thrown into the deep end. 

The Warriors star produced a solid performance, against Tottenham Hotspur, in a league match in London, which Villa won 2-1, on May 19. 

That earned him another dance, in the starting XI, in the home match against a Chelsea side, en-route to glory in the UEFA Champions League, with Villa powering to another impressive 2-1 win. 

Nakamba was named man-of-the-match in that stunning victory. 

Some analysts were very critical of Nakamba when he languished on the bench, for the better part of the campaign, claiming it showed the midfielder was probably not good enough for the tough battles of the English Premiership. 

However, what many of them chose to ignore, either deliberately or otherwise, was the sheer quality of the man he was battling against in a head-to-head showdown, for a place in the Villa starting XI. 

On Tuesday night, Luiz’s pedigree was highlighted when he was given a role in the All-Star Brazilian team, which ended their 15-year winless run in Paraguay, with a 2-0 win over their opponents in a 2022 World Cup qualifier. 

Luiz was thrown into the frame by coach Tite, with 17 minutes left, as Brazil sought to protect their one-goal lead, in a country where victory had, for long, eluded them.

Superstar Neymar had thrust the visitors into the lead in the fourth minute, but the curse of their previous visits to Paraguay, where they had found it virtually impossible to win, for more than a dozen years, meant nothing could be taken for granted. 

Tite, who started with the twin holding pair of Real Madrid’s Casemiro and Manchester United’s Fred, in his starting XI, needed to act and went for the defensive qualities of Luiz, to try and help his team cross the line. 

The coach withdrew Roberto Firmino after deciding he wanted more personnel in the defensive shield of his team. 

That Luiz continues to play in such great company of Brazilian star players highlights that, contrary to what those who have been aiming their arrows at Nakamba believe, the Zimbabwean has been fighting against a classy rival at Villa. 

Liverpool’s goalkeeper, Alisson Becker, was kept on the bench throughout the match in Paraguay, together with his Reds’ teammate Fabinho. 

Brazil have won all their World Cup qualifiers. 

Ahead of the game in Paraguay, there was even a campaign for Luiz to be handed a place in the starting XI, ahead of Fred even though Tite, in the end, stuck with the Manchester United midfielder. 

“Our opponents Paraguay are in an odd situation — they’re one of three unbeaten teams (along with us and Argentina) in World Cup qualifying so far, but with four draws and only one win,’’ a blogger wrote on the influential www.brazilworldcupblog.net 

“I expect them to defend and counterattack as robustly as any team we’ve faced in qualifying so far, which once again begs the question of whether we can break them down. 

“Against Ecuador and Venezuela, it took until the second half and making more attacking substitutions, to find an opening. 

“Tite seems to be persisting with the same sort of set-up that made the team look far too sluggish in those games, with Fred, surprisingly, speculated to retain his spot over Douglas Luiz. 

“Whichever one starts will be the most interesting storyline in this lineup, I think. Can he step up and prove his horrible display against (Ecuador for Fred, Venezuela for Douglas Luiz) was just a fluke? 

“I doubt it, and while I stand with Tite through this ongoing political drama, I really take issue with his insistence on starting such uncreative midfielders.’’