Chelsea winger Estêvão said he followed orders and allowed teammate Lucas Paquetá to take Brazil‘s second penalty in Tuesday’s 1-1 friendly draw with Tunisia.

Estêvão, 18, had converted a penalty in the 44th minute of the encounter in Lille, France, to level the score, 1-1.

When Brazil were awarded another spot-kick in the 77th minute, substitute Paquetá and not Estêvão was chosen by coach Carlo Ancelotti to take it. The West Ham star struck his attempt over the crossbar.

“It was an order that came,” Estêvão said.

“I really wanted to take the spot-kick but the order came in. I supported my teammate so he could score the goal. Unfortunately, he missed, but heads held high, we have to train, improve because in a World Cup we have to take advantage of these opportunities.”

Ancelotti explained his decision.

“For the second penalty, I changed penalty taker because I wanted to take some of the pressure off Estêvão, so I put Paquetá in, who usually takes them very well,” Ancelotti said after the game.

Paquetá apologised for the penalty miss.

“I apologise for the missed penalty,” he said. “I’m sad. We probably would have won with that penalty. I’m very used to scoring at my club, I have great successes. Unfortunately, my anxiety to score made me make a decision before that final touch, so I think that’s what took me away from taking the penalty as I usually do and I ended up not converting it.

“I’ll try to put myself in those circumstances to improve in that sense, to convert in the next opportunity and help the team.”

While Brazil ended the year without a win, Estêvão focused on the positives.

Estêvão joined Chelsea from Palmeiras for £29 million ($38.6m) in the summer and quickly adapted to life in the Premier League.

– Neymar given fitness deadline for World Cup by Brazil boss
– Lucas Paquetá eyes West Ham exit after 2026 World Cup – sources

He has scored five goals in 11 appearances for Brazil.

“It’s been a very special year,” he said. “I don’t think I had many ups and downs, but I was able to handle everything that happened. Being here with the national team means that the work has been done well at the club and at home, so I’m very happy to represent the national team.

“Obviously, we always come here to help, and I’m very happy about that.”

For most leagues across the country, the regular season is over and conference tournaments are set to begin later this week. The final sprint to Selection Sunday on Nov. 30 (6 p.m. ET, ESPN) has arrived.

There are 31 automatic bids with 33 at-large teams chosen by the NCAA volleyball committee. Volleyball seeds the top eight teams in each region, and the top four in each region serve as first- and second-round hosts. The rest of the bracket is filled out to balance it competitively and geographically. The highest-remaining seeds also host the regionals, and the 2025 Final Four is in Kansas City, Missouri, on Dec. 18 with the finals on Dec. 21.

Bracket watch

The ACC does not hold a postseason tournament. The regular season, which concludes Nov. 29, decides the automatic bid to the NCAA. A tournament doesn’t seem necessary with the level of excitement the conference has already provided with more to come in the final two weekends. Last Friday Stanford and Pittsburgh had perhaps the match of the year that the Cardinal won 16-14 in the final set. Louisville pulled a reverse sweep on Miami on Sunday, while SMU took down Stanford in four sets. Six teams are within two games of the top spot and five of those teams sit inside the top-16 of this week’s Bracketology. Louisville, Pittsburgh and Stanford lead the ACC at 14-2 and the Cardinals still have to play the Panthers and Stanford in the final two weeks. Not only will those games decide the ACC champion but will go a long way to deciding the No. 2 seeds and possibly the final No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament.

Top seedings

No. 1 seeds: Nebraska, Kentucky, Texas, Arizona State

No. 2 seeds: Pittsburgh, SMU, Stanford, Texas A&M

No. 3 seeds: Louisville, Purdue, Creighton, Wisconsin

No. 4 seeds: Kansas, Minnesota, Indiana, Miami

No. 5 seeds: USC, Iowa State, TCU, Colorado

No. 6 seeds: Tennessee, Baylor, BYU, North Carolina

No. 7 seeds: Kansas State, Penn State, UTEP, Florida

No. 8 seeds: Michigan, UCLA, Western Kentucky, South Dakota State

Rest of the field (alphabetical): American, Arizona, Ball State, UC Davis, Coppin State, Dayton, East Tennessee State, Eastern Illinois, Fairfield, Florida Gulf Coast, Georgia Tech, Hofstra, James Madison, Long Island, Maryland-Baltimore County, Marquette, Michigan State, Northern Arizona, Northern Kentucky, Northern Iowa, Prairie View A&M, Princeton, Oregon, Rice, San Diego, South Florida, Stephen F. Austin, Utah State, Utah Valley, Villanova, Winthrop, Xavier

(The rest of the field teams wouldn’t be seeded)

Bubble watch

Oregon makes the jump into the field with the biggest win of any bubble team, beating Purdue on Saturday. UCF fell out of the field with a loss to Cincinnati, but with matches against Arizona State, Kansas State and Kansas still to come, the Knights fate is in its hands. The same can be said for Michigan State, which still has Penn State, USC and UCLA on the schedule. With a win in one of those matches, the Spartans are likely in. Missouri and Oklahoma, sitting on the wrong side of the bubble right now, have the SEC tournament starting Friday. A good showing, perhaps with an upset — Oklahoma would meet Kentucky in the quarterfinals, Missouri is set up to meet Texas in the quarters — will be necessary for an at-large bid.

Last Four In: Georgia Tech, Michigan State, South Florida, Oregon

First Four Out: Missouri, Oklahoma, Cincinnati, Florida State

Next Four Out: Georgia, Central Florida, Tulsa, Pepperdine

Conference breakdown

Big 12: 8
Big Ten: 10
ACC: 7
SEC: 5
Big East: 4
American: 2
CUSA: 2