David Luiz captained Brazil to a comfortable 4-0 win over Panama yesterday and revealed his substitution was just a precaution.
The soon-to-be Paris Saint-Germain defender exited in the 70th minute but had already been told by Luiz Felipe Scolari that he would be substituted to prevent pain in his knee.
The 27-year-old told SporTV: “It was just a precaution and it was good to catch more of Henrique.
“All of us are in need of minutes. We only have six substitutes to be made and Scolari warned me he would do it.”
Although the final scoreline suggests an easy match for Brazil, Panama in fact started yesterday’s friendly encouragingly.
During the first period, Seleção struggled to break their opponents down but Luiz was pleased with the test.
“Panama was a very organized team, with two rows of four, who did not want to win the game,” Luiz insisted.
“I am very happy that we were very organized and in no time did we lose our organization.
“We have learned to be patient in trying to make the first goal and then once we get that we take off in the game.”
