Brazil kicked off their World Cup journey with a hard-fought 2-0 win against a resilient Serbia. Coming into both the match and the tournament as favourites, Brazil failed to really get going in the first half, with it taking over 20 minutes for Brazil to register a shot on target. Serbia, who never lost a game in qualifying, made it clear that they weren’t going to make it easy for Brazil.
Dragan Stojkovic’s side stood firm defensively and looked to get forward when they could. Brazil countered on a few occasions but struggled to find the right final ball.
Tite’s side continued to pour forward with more intent and attacking purpose. On the hour mark, Alex Sandro struck the post from distance with a brilliant effort but it didn’t take long for Brazil to find the breakthrough and Serbia ended up conceding 2 goals to their name. However, Richarlison repaid the faith shown in him by Tite. A lot of the talk before the match was regarding why Richarlison was selected ahead of this some others such as Firminho, G.Jesus, but the main thing is when Richarlison pulls on a Brazil shirt, he is always fantastic. He may not have racked up the goal scoring numbers he should have since signing for Tottenham Hotspur but he is undoubtedly Brazil’s number 9 and tonight he proved why. In his last seven matches for Brazil he has eight goals and one assist and until he starts disappointing. Richarlison will keep playing and we hope he will keep performing.
Richarlison has to be our MOTM as the Brazil’s number 9 worked hard, got himself into good areas and as a result, was able to win the match for his side with two goals. As always, he was full of energy, closing the Serbia defenders down and playing with an urgency that most of the rest of the Brazil team lacked in the first half. His second goal is for sure the goal of the tournament so far and was an effort worthy of winning any match, in Richarlison’s case it helped put the game to bed after scoring the games opener some 11 minutes earlier. What a great performance!!