Brazil zoomed past Serbia 2-0 as Richarlison scored a brace to get them off to a winning start in their FIFA World Cup 2022 campaign while Neymar came off with a serious-looking injury.
Brazil took charge early on in the game as Neymar came close to scoring a cheeky goal directly from the corner. Serbian goalkeeper came to the rescue in the 26th minute when Danilo squared the ball to Silva who threaded a brilliant pass to serve the ball on a platter for Vinicious junior to latch on to. However, the Serbian keeper reacted quickly to push the ball away from Vini’s path.
Brazil continued their pursuit for the opener in the second half as Richarlison applied pressure from the front forcing the goalkeeper to release an early pass only for Raphinia to pickpocket the defender on the edge of the box and take a shot which was eventually saved.
However, Brazil kept on looking for the elusive first goal as Alexandro got a squared ball from Raphinha and hit a thunderous shot from distance only for the ball to shatter the inside of the post. Brazil finally got the lead in the 61st minute when Neymar dribbled past Miloš Veljković and bamboozled Milenković before laying the ball to Vinicious Jr, whose curled effort was parried away by Milinković-Savić but only in the path of Richarlison, who tapped the ball in the back of the net.
In the 72nd minute, Neymar played the ball to Vini, who took the ball to the edge of the box before playing a gorgeous outside-of-the-foot pass inside the penalty area. Richarlison took a touch too heavy for the ball to bounce off his feet in the air, perfectly setting him up to execute a sublime bicycle kick to double Brazil’s lead and get his brace, which he did to perfection.
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in the 79th minute, Brazil got a scare that could well affect the rest of their campaign as Neymar, who was fouled in the 48th minute on the edge of the box by the Serbian number 8, went out of the game limping. In the 81st minute, Brazil once again rattled the crossbar, this time through Casemiro. Fred played the ball to Raphinha on the right, who cut inside and gave it to Jesus waiting on the edge of the box. Jesus then laid it off to Casemiro who sent a beautiful curling effort beyond the reach of the keeper but only to hit the post. A couple of seconds later Rodrygo came close as he played a one-two with Fred around the penalty area before taking a shot, only to be denied by the Serbian shot-stopper.
Fred was again involved as took a pass from Casemiro before releasing a long-range effort on the turn, once again making Milinković-Savić work to deny the Brazilians.
Next up, there was time for some Antony magic as the Manchester United star pulled off an elastico to get past two defenders on the left flank before placing a pass in Rodrygo’s path who curled his effort high and wide from just outside the box.
Apart from Neymar’s injury, Brazil would be absolutely delighted with what was there on display. They were crafty and pacey in their play and once the first goal came in, played around Serbia with style and verve reminiscent of the great Brazilian teams of the past. However, with Neymar been the focal pint around whom Tite has built the team, Brazil would desperately wish that his injury is not a major one. Though Tite confirmed in his post match conference that Neymar would continue to play no matter what, the coming days would be critical in assessing whether his injury is minor enough to be shrugged off. Brazil face Switzerland on Monday for their second game of the group and would look to reserve their place in the last 16.
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