Rodrygo improved the team in the second half, participated in Vinicius Junior’s disallowed goal and provided the pass for Casemiro’s accurate shot in the 1-0 victory against Switzerland.
Better with Rodrygo than with Paquetá. The boy is more mature and experienced for his participation in Real Madrid.
In other words, the contribution to victory came from the Spanish capital. Play by Vinicius, pass by Rodrygo, goal by Casemiro. The three champions of the Champions League, in May.
It’s not that Neymar played so well against Serbia to the point of explaining the drop in production of the Brazilian team, with a difficult performance against Switzerland.
Perhaps his technical leadership was lacking more than his play. Today, everyone knows that, without Neymar, Brazil depends on its wingers and, mainly, on Vinicius Junior. But he started surrounded by three Swiss, with the entry of Rieder, more defensive than Shaqiri, and who formed a triangle of markers with the lateral Widmer and the midfielder Freuler.
Maturity is in youth, and the team only improved –a little– with the entry of Rodrygo in place of Paquetá. The striker who entered the break received Richarlison’s light screen and handed it to Casemiro, who gave the pass to Vinicius Junior to score.
The beautiful goal, also reminiscent of Real Madrid champions of the Champions League, was disallowed for offside at the start of the game. He remembered the bids of Argentina x Saudi Arabia, which could have ended the first half at 4-0, but the sensors prevented it.
At the same time, the play indicated that the decisive players for Tite are the boys and that there is only one way without Neymar: the left side. Raphinha is not having a good moment, he is not in the starting line-up for Barcelona, he did not play well in his debut and did not build against the Swiss.
The old buzzwords would come back if it weren’t for Casemiro’s goal. Worn-out words like “ferrolho”, which didn’t even come close to the Swiss team. Neither in Doha nor in Rostov four years ago. The Brazilian difficulty was not the boom. The truth is that the selection has an inexplicable difficulty against Switzerland, whom it faced for the third time in World Cups and won only the first, sweating.
I don’t believe in witches, but that they exist, they exist.
The saying is Spanish, from the same place that was already said in a hurry, on Sunday night, that Brazil’s opponent will come in the quarterfinals. It’s no longer so bold to say that now, because the national team had an open path to lead the group, thanks to Casemiro’s goal.
Even so, they still need to add a point against Cameroon and go through the round of 16, where difficulties can come even if the rival is Ghana, from two exciting matches against Portugal and South Korea.
The Ghanaians also have their Spaniard, Iñaki Williams, who made his debut against Brazil in the September friendly.
Until then, the return of Neymar is possible. Maybe not to be the star of the team, but the leader of the mature and decisive boys, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo.
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