Tite’s last call-up before the announcement of the official list for the 2022 World Cup surprised everyone. After a lot of signaling that the squad for Qatar would be closed (which caused him to receive a lot of criticism), the coach bet on some names and on the eve of the World Cup he seems to be giving chance to some names that were unexpected in his announcements.

Before defining the list for the Cup, Tite will lead Brazil in two more friendlies: on September 23 and 27 against Ghana and Tunisia, respectively. The matches take place in France and take place against two teams that will also be in Qatar. None, however, in the group of the Selection.

And in these friendlies the coach will be able to test Roger Ibañez, one of the two novelties that appeared in this call – the other is Bremer. The two defenders, it seems, are battling it out for one last defensive spot on the World Cup roster.

Who is Roger Ibanez?

Those who follow European football should already know Roger Ibañez. Born in Canela, in Rio Grande do Sul, the Brazilian defender also has Uruguayan and Italian nationality. Trained at PRS, the defender also played for Sergipe, before being loaned to Fluminense.

In 2018, he was acquired by the club from Rio de Janeiro and made 21 appearances in the year, 14 of them in the Brasileirão and seven in the Copa Sudamericana. He caught Atalanta’s attention and headed to Italy, but he wasn’t very successful there. It was just two games in a year, and even that was enough for Roma to see potential and borrow him.

He played part of the 2019/20 season, convinced the board of the club in the Italian capital and has not returned since. In 2020/21, he established himself as a starter and has already surpassed the 100 appearance mark for Roma. Now, he tries to show Tite that he is also a very good option for the World Cup in Qatar.

Valued at 23 million euros, defender Ibañez is a promise of Brazilian football. At the age of 23 and a regular at one of the biggest clubs in the world, he appears as the 27th most valuable player in Brazil in the ranking of Transfermarkt, portal specialized in market values. Still very young, it has only one title in its curriculum: the Conference League, won last season.

How does Roger Ibanez play?

Ibañez is a defender who has also played as a defensive midfielder a few times. He is an athlete with a lot of physical imposition and who has a lot of defensive presence. He is not an athlete who risks a lot of passes and shots, but who sometimes likes to do some dribbling.

Its main characteristics are to put a lot of pressure on the attackers who have the ball and try to steal it to play. The defender also has a good reading of the game and is usually well positioned to cut crosses and opposing passes.

Ibañez statistics at Roma

Ibañez’s performance at Roma is good. In 108 games for the Italian team, he participated in 60 wins, 18 draws and 30 defeats. During this period, he saw his team score 196 times (seven by the defender) and conceded 140 goals (average of 1.3 per game).

The numbers are not the best when we talk about a defender, after all, Roma have been conceding more than one goal per game, on average, with the Brazilian on the field, but we don’t see any serious flaws in the defender that make him responsible for so many goals. In fact, the numbers have been improving season after season.

How to bet on Brazil friendlies?

Tite has not confirmed whether Ibañez and Bremer will play in the friendlies, but the tendency is for them to be tested. It seems clear that Marquinhos, Militão and Thiago Silva will go to the Cup and the fourth place is still missing. Anyway, we can already think about how to bet on matches against Ghana and Tunisia.

Brazil wins without conceding a goal

It’s a good market to bet on. With Tite, Brazil has an absurd defensive force. In 74 games he conceded just 26 goals, an average of almost one in every three games. Against Tunisia, the chance of winning without conceding a goal is very high. Against Ghana, maybe the risk is higher, but it’s still a great guess.

“No” for both teams to score

Another great option for Brazil’s two friendlies in September. Probably, the quotation will be much lower than the market above, but you can think of betting on it if you are setting up a bet or want to opt for a combination involving other matches.

Brazil is a big favorite in both games, even though it comes with an alternative team to do tests and has everything to win both without being leaked by the African opponents.

How to bet on Roma matches?

When we talk about Ibañez at Roma, the scenario changes a bit and there are some interesting markets to keep an eye on for betting.

‘Yes’ for both teams to score with Roma at home

At home, the tendency is for Roma to impose themselves and create more chances to score. However, as we see, the defensive sector has been leaking well in recent seasons. This vastly increases the chances that a “Yes” in both teams’ market to score will come to fruition.

Therefore, when Roma play at home, it is worth considering betting on this option.

Over 1.5 goals at home

It’s the same philosophy. If Roma’s tendency at home is to go for it (and score goals), knowing that the defense ends up being leaked frequently, we can expect at least two goals at Olímpico de Roma in a good part of the team’s games in the season.

So far in the season, Roma have yet to concede a goal at home, but have only faced Monza and Cremonese, opponents much weaker than many others the team will face in the coming months.

Avoid card market for Ibañez

Roger Ibañez is not an athlete who usually receives a lot of yellow and red cards. In nearly four years at Roma, he has only received 22 yellows and one red (due to his second card). This in 108 matches played. For a not so solid defense, these are numbers that show that the defender is well balanced.