Last night fixtures saw two nations from the Asian continent take on two of the world’s best football nations, Croatia and Brazil, in which the representatives of the oriental region, Japan and South Korea, fell short of making it to the next round of knockout stages. Nevertheless, the Samurai Blue and Taegeuk Warriors can all stand with their heads held high after producing emphatic performance game after game in this tournament, and it is safe to say that Asian countries are a force to be reckoned with and are capable of calling their European and American counterparts equal in the world of football.
It Is All Samba Magic in the First 45 Minutes
The Selecao danced all the way through in the first half, dominating the South Koreans in every possible statistics category and the game was done and dusted by half time, with the former leading 4-0. Brazil opened the scoring with Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior slotting home a strike that was fed by Barcelona’s Raphinha, a national teammate from his club’s fiercest rival. The South Koreans then gave away a penalty after Tottenham Hotspur’s Richarlison was brought down by Jung Woo-young, in which a fit-again Neymar guided the ball to the lower right corner from the spot.
The Selecao continued to run riot against the Taegeuk Warriors by linking up a few great passes that started and ended with the in-form Richarlison. The Spurs’ man first passed the ball to Paris Saint-Germain’s Marquinhos, before the latter gave the ball to his former club teammate Thiago Silva who fed it straight back to Richarlison to bag his third goal of the tournament. Just seven minutes later, the Brazilians linked up another gorgeous sequence of passes, for Vinícius Júnior to deliver a delicious cross for West Ham United midfielder Lucas Paquetá to score his eight international goal for the Selecao. Considering Brazil’s rich World Cup history, this is only the second time they have scored four times in the first 45 minutes of a World Cup match.
With a convincing margin achieved so early in the match, Brazil’s manager Tite gradually subbed off his stars and even gave third-choice goalkeeper, Palmeiras’ Weverton only his ninth cap for his country in the game. South Korea pulled one back in the 76th minute, courtesy of Paik Seung-ho who controlled a cleared ball by the Brazilian defence and unleashed a beautiful half-volley. That was Taegeuk Warriors’ last goal of the tournament and the game ended with Brazil the 4-1 winner.
Kockasti Awaits in the Quarterfinal
The Selecao will play the Luka Modrić-led Croatia in the quarterfinal, after the latter overcame a tough Japan who took an early lead in the first half. Kockasti beat their Asian opponent in the first penalty shootout of the tournament, after Japan missed three out of their four spot kicks.
Croatia’s group mate, Belgium failed miserably in this year’s World Cup, bowing out from the tournament during the group stage. Read here for more.
(Photo Credits: beIN SPORTS)