The two great favorites to win the World Cup are already in the round of 16. France and Brazil, in fact, are the only ones with an insured passport, for now. The canarinha sealed it this Monday after beating Switzerland with many difficulties thanks to a goal from Casemiro in the final stretch. Without Neymar, the five-time champion was a very flat team, lacking in magic, but with such a great punch that with five forwards on the field a 'stopper' broke in to decide the match. Brazil is synonymous with the World Cup.
In stadium 974, on the shores of the Persian Gulf, where there was no color was in the stands, not suitable for the superstitious. The ratio of yellow to red jerseys was roughly nine to one. It was a festive afternoon, a tone that Brazilians enjoy so much, and to which the barely a thousand Swiss fans present joined in openly.
On the field things were much more even. Tite made few tweaks to the team that beat Serbia, with Real Madrid player Militão at right-back and Fred taking the place of the injured Neymar. This exchange of names turned out to be quite a declaration of intent by the 'canarinha' coach, who was defeated by conservatism despite the fact that a victory gave him a mathematical pass to the round of 16. With Cameroon as the last rival in the group stage, the only thing that Brazil did not want is to suffer a scare against an always competitive Switzerland and that is why they went to the green.
Neymar's absence was a real drag on the show. If we talk about football, everything is more beautiful with the Brazilian. It is irrefutable. He did not find a replacement for his world champion star because Vinícius, already a European champion among other niceties, is still not enough to support the full weight of a five-time world champion.
The Brazilian team seemed flat, well turned off by a Switzerland that had become one of those uncomfortable teams, impossible to decipher, and with which it is better not to face each other if one wants to have a comfortable life. A couple of electrical combinations at the first touch was the little salvageable on the Brazilian side. The restless Paquetá tried to add sauce to the Qatari afternoon without much success, just a dangerous cross that Richarlison could not reach.
Switzerland, as usual, did not seem to do much, but between Embolo and Vargas they managed to go stepping on Alisson's area from time to time, timidly raising their hand to warn the teacher that they also had questions.
Before half an hour into the first half, Brazil had its best option to open the light and put a foot and a half in the round of 16. The Catalan Raphinha put a great cross to the far post where Vinícius finished off completely alone but with very little precision. The eternal Sommer managed to deflect the ball to a corner while the madridista raised his hands to his head. Before going to the locker room, Raphinha once again put the Swiss goalkeeper's reflexes to the test with a powerful shot from a distance, but too focused. Before the referee signaled the break, there was a threat of blackout in 974, but the lights returned to normal in a few seconds.
But what was happening on the pitch, bordering on football nothingness, Tite did not like at all and he opted to recover the drawing with four attackers putting Rodrygo in. The exchange took effect and encouraged the duel. The yellow bet to turn to attack also caused spaces that allowed Switzerland to glimpse Alisson with a little more clarity, not too much. You don't have to go over.
Brazil had the first wooden prize, the stands went crazy when Vinícius captured the net after connecting with Casemiro. But one of those new offsides by Richarlison at the start of the play ended the euphoria at once. Nothing could be done by technology with Casemiro's acrobatic shot, which hit Akanji before finding the net. The previous combination made in the Bernabeu between Vinícius and Rodrygo was wonderful. Now yes, he thundered the yellow stands because he will see his team in the round of 16. Already there the return of Neymar is expected. Pure magic.
1 - Brazil: Alisson; Militao, Marquinhos, Silva, Alex Sandro (Telles, m.86); Fred (Guimaraes, m.58), Casemiro, Paqueta (Rodrygo, m.46); Vinicius, Richardson (Gabriel Jesus, m.73), Leaf (Antony, m.73).
0 - Switzerland: Sommer; Widmer (Frei, m.86), Akanji, Elvedi, Rodriguez; Freuler, Genealogy, Rieder (Stephen, m.58); Horse (Aebischer, m.75), Vargas (Fernandes, m.58), Penis (Seferovic, m.75).
Goals: 1-0. Casemiro, m.83.
Referee: Iván Barton (SAL) admonished Fred (m.52) for Brazil and Rieder (m.50) for Switzerland.
Incidents: Match corresponding to the second day of Group G of the group stage of the Qatar 2022 World Cup played at the 974 Stadium in Doha (Qatar) before 46,649 spectators.
