While Brazil ruled Serbia in front of a delirious crowd, enthusiasts can find many words to describe La Selecao. You can call them sensational, explosive; even legendary. However, maximum accuracy?Bees.
The players, dressed in their classic yellow Nike jerseys, invaded an unresponsive Serbian team that sank into the side. Relentless and ruthless, they stung Serbia with damaging distant shots that crashed onto the post.
But the leader of Brazil’s offensive hive, Richarlison, is the one who killed Serbia. His rebound to open the scoring and his glorious motorcycle to finish it earned him praise from everyone who watched the game. The dominant functionality is a welcome replacement for its unhappy 2018 campaign.
It looked like Brazil was going to dominate from the start. Serbia sat in a low block, waiting for counterattacks, but at the top it didn’t work. Vinicius Almaximum put the ball in the sixth, but Turino’s Vanja Milinkovic-Savic prevented the momentum. The ball away.
Other opportunities arose. Milinkovic-Savic met Raphinha’s chip just after half-time with a very good save, and continued to fend off the wave of Brazilian strikers. However, Brazil sent back to back to the tempting hands of the goalkeeper or the crossbar.
However, that replaced in the 62nd minute. Neymar made his way through a horde of Serbian defenders in the area, dancing and diving before passing the ball to Vinicius. Once again, Milinkovic-Savic saved his shot, but couldn’t prevent Richarlison’s hard rebound. Brazil 1, Serbia 0.
Richarlison continued his masterclass in the 73rd minute when he found a pop-up ball in a position to be thrown. He propelled himself upwards with his left foot, spun in the air and hit the ball with his right. Accuracy is instantaneous. His scissor kick went through the bottom left corner, out of reach of Milinkovic-Savic.
After a brief moment of commotion, the enthusiasts shouted with excitement at Richarlison’s crier. He celebrated his teammates and coaches on the sidelines for the frightened look of Serbia. Brazil 2, Serbia 0.
The match ended with more of the same. Casemiro hit the inside of the post from outside the box, but was unable to direct the ball beyond the goal line. Brazil finished the game with 22 total shots and 59% possession of the ball; opposite to a Top 25 team, no less. They look as scary as ever. A deep run to the latter is more likely during the day.
Brazil has a plethora of attacking skills to draw on, many nations in this World Cup. With La Liga rivals Raphinha and Vinicius on both flanks, and Neymar and Richarlison in between, Switzerland and Cameroon will struggle to prevent a goal.
But that may replace him in a Group G clash with Cameroon.
Neymar, the center of the Brazilian attack, sprained his old-fashioned ankle in the match against Serbia.
The injury came after Serbia committed it nine times; that of all the other players in the World Cup. Hit by a Serbian physical defense and exhausted after commanding Brazil’s starving attack, he had to retreat.
“You can be sure: Neymar will play in the World Cup. You can rest assured, Neymar will play in the World Cup!” exclaimed Tite at a post-adjustment press conference. However, Tite’s overconfidence and Neymar’s refusal to communicate about his injury means he could miss the attack against Cameroon, if not the entire stage of the organisation.
Neymar’s involvement is unprecedented. He touched the ball 81 times, the striker’s maximum moment so far. Losing him would be disastrous, especially since Tite would have to adjust his line-up to not want an attacking midfielder. Will Brazil play in a 4-3-3?
Everywhere, Brazil is obsessed. Brazil leads in defense through Alex Sandro, who has controlled 103 touches (eighth so far in the World Cup). The Brazilian defense took advantage of Serbia’s mistakes, and the 4 Sandro, Marquinhos, Danilo and Thiago Silva played a match.
The same goes for the midfield duo of Lucas Paquetá and Casemiro. Both won 11 duels overall and were the main explanation for why Serbia may not succeed in the final third. Tite would not make a mistake by staying with the Serbian formation and replacing Neymar. with a classic midfielder.
Surprisingly, neither Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic nor Fiorentina’s Luka Jovic started against Brazil. Serbian coach Dragan Stojkovic instead chose Fulham star Aleksandar Mitrovic as the sole striker and Ajax’s Dusan Tadic as the sole midfielder.
The absence of Vlahovic in the starting XI is surprising. He scored six goals and helped one in 10 Serie A games with Juventus before missing six games with an adductor problem. Although he missed much of the club’s season, Vlahovic returned for Serbia’s friendly against Bahrain. , where he scored a goal and helped twice.
The Juventus striker nevertheless entered the match in the 66th minute as a left midfielder; a position in which he has virtually no experience. As expected, he did not have a great influence on the game, only touching the ball 10 times and wasting several clashes on the left wing with Rapinha and Danilo.
Jovic’s omission is more understandable. The Fiorentina striker has scored only 3 goals in fourteen Serie A games, and has been out of Stojkovic’s liking for a while. But despite scoring in a friendly with Bahrain, he found himself on the bench for 90 minutes.
It will be difficult for Vlahovic and Jovic to enter the starting line-up thanks to the conservative formations that Serbia likes to play. They played a 3-5-1-1 against Brazil, a 3-4-2-1 against Bahrain and even took away a 3-5-2 against Norway.
Mitrovic is the striker of first choice for Serbia, nothing either can challenge in the foreseeable long term. If Serbia line up in a more competitive position, Vlahovic can get a starting spot alongside Mitrovic, and Jovic may have time to bet. The long term is bleak for the 3 Serbian strikers.
Photo credit: IMAGO / Fotoarena