Brazil gives its goal concert

It would be quite rare not to see Brazil in a World Cup fighting for the title after the round of 16. And in Neymar’s time, it would be strange if, despite the injuries, he did not have the spotlight following his World Cup anecdotes.

Brazil has played 11 round of 16 qualifiers in the World Cup, surpassed nine of them (one after a penalty shootout) and only lost twice (against Spain in 1934 and against Argentina in 1990), according to the specialist’s statistics. in soccer MisterChip (Alexis).

In Qatar 2022, in the round of 16 stage, he had Neymar back, who recovered from an injury that occurred in the team’s first game against Serbia. It was a record night for the striker, since from the 4-1 score that he beat South Korea, he scored one of the goals to add 76 to his tally with the national team, and he is one away from the mark established by Pelé .

“I was very scared. It was very difficult after how I got injured. I was crying all night. My family knows what I had to go through. But in the end everything worked out. It was worth the effort to continue doing physiotherapy”.

Neymar scored his first goal in the current World Cup, from the penalty spot with a low shot. He danced as his teammates crowded around him, then did dance moves along with Vinícius Junior and other teammates before raising his arms to the sky and grinning widely. A tribute to Pelé that appeared in images around the stadium among the fans. The legendary figure has been in delicate health so far in the World Cup. Vinícius Júnior opened the scoring for the Canarinha from inside the area after a cross from Raphinha on seven minutes, Richarlison added the lead from close range after an exchange of passes from the Brazilians and Lucas Paquetá scored the fourth before the break after an assist from Vinicius.

Brazil became the first team with a 4-goal advantage in the first half hour of a World Cup match, since Germany did it against the Brazilian team in the 1-7 game of the year 2014.

South Korea was trying to advance beyond the round of 16 for the first time since their historic semi-final run as co-hosts in 2002. The only goal of the game for the Asians came from Paik Seung-ho in the 76th minute. South Korea’s Paulo Bento said after the game that he was retiring. The Portuguese coach took over the team after the last World Cup and his contract ended after this year’s tournament.

Brazil is now in the quarterfinals, where Croatia awaits next Friday to get a ticket to the semifinals. It will be the third clash in the World Cups between these two teams, all in the group stage, all with victory for Brazil.

It was the last game of the World Cup at Stadium 974, which has a capacity for more than 40,000 fans and is expected to be completely dismantled. The structure was partially built from recycled shipping containers.