After the upsets of Argentina and Germany in their debuts at the Qatar Cup, Brazil confirmed its favoritism against Serbia and won the match 2-0 in its first game of Group G, this Thursday (24) at Lusail Stadium. With this result, the Brazilian team leads the group with the same number of points as Switzerland, which has a worse goal difference.
The match started with a strategy of high pressing, putting pressure on the Brazilian team’s ball exit. It was just an initial suffocation, which requires a lot of stamina to maintain throughout the match. Still, this made the game tight, with little space for creativity or dribbling, resulting in an increase in the number of fouls committed by the European team.
The first significant moment occurred in the 12th minute when Neymar took a corner kick that almost resulted in an Olympic goal. However, goalkeeper Milinkovic, who stands at 2.02 meters, punched the ball towards the back line.
Brazil went into halftime with a bitter 0-0 draw but returned for the second half with a new attitude: to pressure the Serbian defense even more.
In the 17th minute, the goal finally came! Neymar disrupted the defense and passed to Vinícius Júnior, who shot across the goal for the goalkeeper to parry forward. Richarlison’s star began to shine when the Tottenham (England) forward struck first-time, making an entire country explode with happiness: 1-0!
But the best was yet to come. In the 29th minute, Vinícius Júnior advanced down the left and delivered a low cross. In the middle of the area, Richarlison controlled with his right foot, lifted the ball, and volleyed with his left foot to score a stunning goal. The most beautiful goal of the Qatar Cup so far. 2-0 for Brazil!
Coach Tite began to make changes to the team, one of which raised some concern: Neymar, who suffered a hard tackle on his right foot. However, even with the changes, Brazil continued to dominate the match and create opportunities, like Casemiro’s chance in the 36th minute, when he attempted a shot from outside the area that hit the crossbar of Serbia. Without a doubt, the best performance of a team in this World Cup after the 16 matches of the first round.
Next Monday (28), in the second round of Group G, Brazil faces Switzerland starting at 11 AM (Eastern Time).
Source: Agência Brasil