On March 28th 2017, Brazil beat Paraguay in Sao Paulo to become the first nation to qualify for this summer’s World Cup.

That night – with a starting XI that included Roberto Firmino in place of an injured Gabriel Jesus – they turned in a dominant performance to get three points and put clear daylight between themselves and the chasing pack.

I was fortunate enough to have been in the Arena Corinthians to watch the game, and as everybody poured out of the ground I reflected on an accomplished performance from Firmino. He did not find the net, nor did he provide an assist, but his movement had been key to making the breakthrough against a hardy Paraguayan backline.

Brazil huffed and puffed for the opening 33 minutes but had failed to work Antony Silva in the visitors’ net. Then, as Philippe Coutinho advanced down the right, Firmino made one of his selfless off-the-ball runs, dragging Paraguayan centre-back Dario Veron towards the right-hand touchline.

Paulinho saw the space that had been vacated, moved into it and played a one-two with Coutinho, who curled a delicious left-footed shot into the bottom corner. Firmino thrust his arms in the air, grinning from ear to ear, and ran to rejoice alongside his then club-mate.

The Selecao went on to win 3-0, giving a second-half lesson in attractive attacking play, but it was only through their striker’s clever running that the Paraguayan resilience was cracked. It was not a flashy flick nor a thunderous finish, but Firmino had played his part to perfection.

It was to my bewilderment, then, that on the television the next morning, pundits were roundly criticising the Liverpool man’s display.

Velloso, an ex-goalkeeper who now appears on TV channel Bandeirantes, tore into the front-man when asked if there were any players who had underperformed; “Yes.” He said, “Firmino… Yesterday he should have been the team’s reference point, he should have played with his back to goal, laid balls off and got in the box to finish. He didn’t manage to perform that function.”

He was not the only one to express such thoughts, clearly missing the merit in Firmino’s work off the ball. But perhaps the reproach should not have come as such a surprise. The Liverpool number nine has not always been a universally popular man in his homeland.