Chelsea star Thiago Silva backs ‘arrogant’ Arsenal star to shine for Brazil

Thiago Silva has backed Arsenal duo Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus to have key roles to play for Brazil at the World Cup, insisting the former has the ‘arrogance;’ to shine at the top level.

Brazil get their campaign underway on Thursday evening against Serbia as one of the competition favourites.

In a strong Premier League continent, Chelsea’s Silva is joined by the Arsenal forwards who have enjoyed superb starts to the Premier League season with Mikel Arteta’s side sat at the summit of English football having won 10 of their 12 games.

Martinelli is making his World Cup debut with Brazil skipper Silva believing the Gunners star is more than capable of stepping up onto the international stage if given the opportunity.

‘You can see the connection they’ve had this season with Arsenal – it’s a big reason why they’re top of the Premier League,’ Silva told The Mirror.

‘Jesus, we’ve known about his quality for a long time, but Martinelli is really showing what he’s about.

‘He’s playing without fear and, if he gets the chance to play, I don’t think it will faze him and he’ll just do what we know he can do. I think all attacking players at the top level need that little bit of arrogance – that they know they can do something special – and he has that.’

The World Cup in Qatar has already thrown up two major shocks with Argentina and Germany losing their opening group games to Saudi Arabia and Japan respectively.

Silva insists Brazil are wary of early setbacks and refuses to consider his side as the favourites.

‘The target for Brazil is the same as always and that is to win The World Cup,’ said Silva. ‘But you do that by taking things one game at a time. I don’t want to talk about favourites or who we could play in the final, because we’re not there yet.

‘At this level, the smallest lapse in concentration can cost you everything. That’s why at the moment the focus is just on the game against Serbia and nothing else.

‘This is my fourth World Cup and it does feel different. Normally there’s preparation, but two days after Chelsea played Newcastle, I was training with the Brazil team.

‘We then have a World Cup for a month and two days after Christmas I’ll be playing with Chelsea again. There’s never been a season like it – but it doesn’t make our determination and desire to win any less.’

MORE : Brazilian state flag confiscated because Qatar police thought it was pride flag

MORE : Brazil opt for ‘unprecedented’ line-up for World Cup opener vs Serbia as Fred misses out

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