Richarlison, Raphinha, Vinicius, Gabriel Jesus, Rodrygo, Antony…. The Brazilian forwards are capable of scoring from every chance and from every position imaginable, but in tonight’s game against Switzerland, it was a defensive midfielder who brought relief to the Brazilian nation with a beautiful goal, which secured a win and a qualification into the knockout stage. Switzerland proved to be a really tough and disciplined opponent, but Casemiro broke them down 10 minutes before the end, after a pass from his former Real teammate Rodrygo: Brazil – Switzerland 1-0.Brazil go through!!! 🔥FT: #BRA 1-0 #SUI #BBCFootball #BBCWorldCup pic.twitter.com/h2k4A4gW28— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) November 28, 2022 A Selecao have qualified for the Top 16 with a game to spare and can afford to rest players (Neymar particularly) against Cameroon, while Switzerland nearly earned a point, but now will have to starve of Serbia, who needs a win in the last round in order to advance any further. Both previous meetings between Brazil and Switzerland at the FIFA World Cup have ended in a draw (2-2 in 1950, 1-1 in 2018) and tonight it looked like it will be the third draw in a row, but Manchester’s midfielder scored a beauty to resolve the game. 0 – #Brazil 🇧🇷 have become in just the second nation to not face a single shot on target in their first two #WorldCup games in a single edition after France in 1998 (2 games) since 1966. Unbreakable. pic.twitter.com/wPpJWlmedh— OptaJose (@OptaJose) November 28, 2022 Even thou Brazil has magicians on the pitch, the first half was among the dullest in the tournament. As expected, Tito’s crew was dominating, they had two shots on goal, but they have been limited by Switzerland’s insistence on getting everyone back when they are defending. Raphinha delivered a beautiful ball to Vinicius Jnr after a superb dash to the far post, with the latter forcing a top near post save from Sommer in the 27th minute, and that was it as far as chances were concerned in the first 45 minutes.Things were pretty much the same in the second half too, and then the 974 Stadium erupted in the 64th minute. It was Vinicius with a great goal from the left, in a great solo effort, but the VAR room alerted the referee and the goal was nullified due to offside. But the Brazilians kept plugging in, Tite brought in the ‘heavy artillery’ with Bruno Guimaraes, Gabriel Jesus, Rodrygo and Antony all coming in, and eventually, they scored to secure the win and the first spot in the group. Brazil scored the winning goal when Rodrygo passed the ball to Casemiro who hit a gorgeous volley which tipped Akanji’s body just a bit, and ended behind Sommer’s back. The Brazilians then had two great chances inside the last 10 minutes, but Rodrygo and Vinicius couldn’t finish, and the game ended with a minimal score. Monday, Nov 28thCameroon – Serbia 3-3 (1-2)/Castelleto 29, Aboubakar 63, Choupo – Moting 66 – Pavlovic 45+1, Milinkovic Savic 45+3, Mitrovic 53/S.Korea – Ghana 2-3 (0-2)/Cho 58, 61 – Salisu 24, Kudus 34, 68/Brazil – Switzerland1-0 (0-0)/Casemiro 83/22:00: (2.10) Portugal (3.20) Uruguay (3.80)
