Newcastle United duo Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton were called up by Brazil for the international break, but the pair have experienced a chaotic journey
Patrick Austen-Hardy Senior Sports Journalist
21:21, 07 Oct 2025
Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes’ flight had to make an emergency U-turn(Image: Getty Images)
A flight carrying Newcastle United pair Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton was forced to make an “emergency U-turn” whilst travelling to South Korea.
The Magpies duo have been selected for the Brazil squad by Selecao boss Carlo Ancelotti. They were scheduled to arrive in Seoul, South Korea, before meeting up with their international colleagues.
However, whilst the aircraft was travelling to the Asian nation, a damaged window forced pilots to turn around and return to Amsterdam. Despite spending nearly 12 hours airborne, the Newcastle stars only managed to reach the Dutch capital.
It’s now anticipated they will board alternative flights to arrive on Wednesday. Brazilian media reports suggest Guimaraes will be the first to reach South Korea, whilst Joelinton will travel from Amsterdam.
The latter is expected to arrive last, as Guimaraes is set to take a connecting flight via another destination. Brazil have scheduled a training session at 4pm local time at Goyang Stadium, which will attract thousands of enthusiastic South Korean supporters.
Due to the timing, it’s understood Joelinton will miss the public training session, whilst it remains uncertain whether Guimaraes will arrive in time. The duo will be expected to be ready for Brazil’s friendly encounter against South Korea on Friday.
Following the match with the two-time Asian Cup winners, they will board another aircraft to travel to Tokyo for a match against Japan next Tuesday. When their international duties are complete, the duo will undertake a mammoth 5,768-mile journey back to the North East, before travelling down south to square off against Brighton and Hove Albion on 18 October.
Guimaraes and Joelinton were both on the flight to South Korea(Image: Sebastian Frej/MB Media, Getty Images)
Guimaraes admitted the break came at a poor time for Eddie Howe’s side. They registered their first Champions League victory of the campaign with a thumping 4-0 away victory over Union Saint-Gilloise before beating Nottingham Forest 2-0.
The ex-Lyon midfielder said: “The international break has not come at a very good time for us, because we just want to keep going. But now we have to go to the international, play well and come back fit because we have a very important game when we come back.
“I’m going to South Korea, it’s crazy. But yeah, we have to go there. Playing for my country is always a reason to be proud though for me. But it’s a little bit far away.
Joelinton and Guimaraes have become regulars in the Brazil squad(Image: Gualter Fatia, Getty Images)
“The most important thing now is to get the jet lag right. Go there, train well. It’s important for us as well to be there with our national team and most important is to stay fit.”
Brazil’s World Cup qualification campaign ended in the last international break with a 1-0 defeat to Bolivia. They had a close shave in their qualification campaign, nearly missing out on the World Cup altogether.
The South Americans finished a disappointing fifth, trailing 10 points behind the leaders of the qualification, Argentina. Their tally of 28 points from 18 matches is paltry by their standards and marks the worst in their qualifying history – If they had achieved the same score in their qualification campaign for the 2022 World Cup, they would have missed out on the World Cup finals for the first time ever.
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