Start according to the Brazilian system - Sport - Kommersant

Start according to the Brazilian system - Sport - Kommersant



The opening match at the World Cup was held by one of the main favorites of the tournament - the Brazilian national team, which was opposed by a very dangerous Serbian team. The first half ended 0-0, but then Richarlison scored a brace and brought the Brazilians a well-deserved victory - 2-0. Moreover, his second goal can be safely called the most beautiful in the entire first round.

After several big teams struggled in their World Cup debuts, it was interesting to see how another contender for the title, Brazil, starts the tournament. Many experts generally considered it to be the main favorite of the current championship, noting that compared to the world forum four years ago, where Tite's team only reached the quarterfinals, it has changed qualitatively and become much stronger. Actually, she has already managed to regain her leadership in the FIFA rankings. However, Belgium, which occupies second place there, barely defeated Canada at the start, and Argentina, which is in third position, sensationally lost to Saudi Arabia. The defeat of the Argentines, who also came to Qatar for the World Cup, according to the coach of the Brazilians, made him think.

Meanwhile, the team of Tita in the first round was confronted by a priori very dangerous opponent. The Serbian national team, which has been coached by Dragan Stojkovic since 2021, has also matured noticeably lately and in the selection for the World Cup was ahead of not just anyone, but the Portuguese, defeating the European “Brazilians” in the decisive match on their field 2:1. 11 people from the current squad gained useful experience from the last world championship in Russia, where the Serbs also competed in the group stage with Brazil and the same Switzerland, being the third extra. By the way, then they met the Brazilians in the third round and lost 0:2.

The Serbian team chose a tactical model with one attacker and tried to strengthen the center of the field as much as possible. The Brazilian national team, which has a whole scattering of bright forwards who play for European superclubs, naturally saturated its front line, where Neymaru was joined by Vinicius Junior, Rafinha and Richarlison. It seemed that the skilled South Americans would immediately take control of the ball, but no - the Serbs applied pressure and made it clear that without a fight they would not give up an inch of land in the Lusail arena, where, by the way, the Saudis nailed the Argentines.

In the first quarter of an hour, the Brazilians were honored only with a couple of corners, one of which, however, Neymar filed very sharply, right on target, but goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic was on the alert. Well, for the same Neymar, for prevention, they hit him in the legs a couple of times in order to knock down his settings a little. Nevertheless, the flywheel of the Brazilian attack was gradually spinning up. So Milinkovic-Savic had to save the team when the central defender Thiago Silva opened the echeloned Serbian defense with a vertical pass from the depth, and Vinicius Junior flew out to the gate alone. Slightly delayed goalkeeper with access to the interception, to be a goal or a penalty.

Then Rafinha could give him trouble, but the blow from the representative of Barcelona turned out to be too soft. Defender Nikola Milenković almost made a "delivery" when he involuntarily played along with Vinicius, who was rushing to the goal, and then heroically corrected his own mistake, caught up with the striker of Real Madrid and knocked the ball out for a corner. And yet, on the whole, the Serbs defended themselves reliably. Maybe before the break, they themselves practically did not attack, except for the rare sheds on Aleksandar Mitrovic, but the Brazilians were not allowed to roam. Apparently, 0:0 was quite suitable for Stojkovic's wards.

Team Tite, of course, did not agree to a draw. In the second half, she came out clearly more charged. And then there’s the goalkeeper Milinkovic-Savic (recall, his older brother Serhiy also plays for the Serbian national team as a midfielder) tricked and supplied his partner with such a terrible pass that Rafinha easily took the ball and fell out onto the goal. However, the goalkeeper broke it himself and repaired it himself. But the clouds were already gathering over the Serbs. The post helped them first when defenseman Alex Sandro unloaded his cannon from long range. Then the Brazilians got closer. And if Vanja Milinkovic-Savic coped with the blow of Vinicius, then he was physically unable to neutralize Richarlison, who finished off the ball into the net.

Having missed, the Serbs tried to come up with something ahead. One of their corner even caused a slight panic in the Brazilian penalty area. However, in the 73rd minute, Richarlison removed the intrigue, and he did it in a completely refined way - from a turn with side scissors. Such a goal is difficult to describe in words, it is better to see at least once. The stands were simply delighted. And the Brazilians played for their own pleasure. Even the defensive midfielder Casemiro decided to take part in the performance and wrestle with Richarlison for the prize of the most beautiful goal, but his mighty shot was deflected by the crossbar. There were other moments at the Serbian goal, when Tite had already replaced his entire attacking brigade, led by Neymar.

In the end, there was no defeat - 2:0. Despite this, the start of the Brazilian team at the World Cup was impressive. She has huge potential, and she really looks like one of the main favorites of the tournament. So far, the Brazilians have topped Group G with three points and are 1-0 ahead of the Swiss who defeated Cameroon earlier on goal difference.

Alexander Ilyin



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