By Anmar Goodridge-Boyce
Five-time champions Brazil issued a statement of intent by humiliating South Korea 4-1 to register an emphatic victory and set up a World Cup quarter-final encounter on Friday against 2018 runners up Croatia.
Brazil, the pre-tournament favourites are definitely living up to the huge expectations and moved a step closer to lifting the most coveted trophy in football for the sixth time with an impressive win at Stadium 974 in Doha, Qatar.
In a dazzling first half of football from the Samba kings, the scoreline read 4-0 and they produced moments of sheer magic in a display of their rich tradition and culture.
Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior scored the opener, setting the tone for an eventful first half with a right-footed curled effort from inside the box. Neymar, the Brazilian superstar who missed their final group-stage with an ankle injury, made a goal scoring return to the side with a composed penalty. It was his 76th goal for country, and he now a lone goal behind legend Pele on the list of all-time top goal scorers for Brazil.
But Neymar’s penalty to double Brazil’s advantage was just one factor in a demolition job that sent South Korea crashing out of the tournament even before the final whistle.
Tottenham’s striker Richarlison then added to his tally of three World Cup goals with another gem, jiggling the ball on his head before collecting a pass from Captain Thiago Silva and slotting home comfortably.
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Lucas Paqueta added a fourth for Brazil before the break and Paik Seung-ho grabbed a consolation later on but the night belonged to Brazil who are clear favourities.
There is a school of thought suggesting that the Brazilians have not met quality opponents so far for the tournament, I disagree. Every nation which turned up in Qatar deserved to be there. In the group stage, Brazil defeated Serbia and Switzerland but fell to Cameroon after Tite made 10 changes to his side.
Knockout football is far different to the groups and I always expected Brazil to turn it up a notch in the round of 16. South Korea were far from the side that defeated Portugal 2-1 to advance to the knockout round. And Brazil were simply brilliant from start to finish with swift and accurate passing and clinical finishing.
Meantime, in the day’s first match, Croatia’s goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic proved to be the hero as he saved three penalties as his nation defeated Japan 3-1 in a penalty shoot-out after the score was 1-1 at the end of 120 minutes.
Mario Pasalic scored the winning penalty after Livakovic saved the first two from 12 yards including Maya Yoshida.
Japan will feel hard done by after taking a well-deserved lead when Daizen Maeda scored.
Croatia, who were defeated by defending champions France grabbed an equalizer thanks to an excellent header from Ivan Perisic’s brilliant bullet header but neither nation could find a winner and the match went into extra time.
Anmar’s Predictions
Morocco 0-3 Spain
Portugal 2-1 Switzerland
