Brazil beat Serbia 2-0 of their World Cup opener on Thursday as Richardson scored two targets within the second half, together with a spectacular overhead kick, though an ankle harm by Neymar interrupted his celebrations. department.
Richardson, dressed within the golden yellow of Brazil’s package, has been in advantageous kind this yr and opened the scoring with a easy tap-in earlier than doubling the lead along with his acrobatic effort.
It was his ninth objective for Brazil in seven matches in 2022 as Brazil overtook Switzerland, who beat Cameroon 1-0, to prime Group G. Serbia is down.
“As our professor Tite says, ‘you’re smelling the targets’, and that’s what’s happening,” Richardson mentioned.
“It’s a wonderful night, a beautiful win and we now have six games to reach our goal.”
Tite’s determination to go together with 4 forwards – Neymar, Vinicius Júnior, Rafinha and Richardson – in his attacking lineup paid off handsomely because the South American dominated the match and Serbia needed to work exhausting each time.
Vinicius constantly used his aptitude and tempo to beat his man, whereas Neymar, in a freer function, usually discovered pockets of area, however a well-drilled Serbian protection saved Brazil at bay within the first half. saved.
However, Brazil’s finest likelihood of the half got here when Neymar tried to catch goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic from a nook, hitting an inswinger that was on track earlier than the Torino participant punched clear.
neymar injured
However, a near-perfect evening soured for Brazil when Neymar went off with what seemed like an ankle harm within the eightieth minute after a scathing deal with from Nikola Milenkovic.
It was the identical proper foot that Neymar already had issues with and the Paris Saint-Germain ahead, the world’s most costly participant, sat on the bench along with his face lined whereas Brazil watched the match.
Brazil’s group physician mentioned he would want a day or two to judge the swelling in his ankle, however Tite mentioned he didn’t suppose it could rule the 30-year-old out for the remainder of the event.
“We are confident that Neymar will continue to play in the World Cup,” Tite informed reporters.
“I did not see Neymar getting harm. His capacity to recuperate from it has deceived me too,” he mentioned when requested why Neymar was not withdrawn earlier.
Mitrovic remoted
Serbia was sweating over the health of its all-time prime scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic, however coach Dragan Stojkovic named him within the beginning lineup.
However, in contrast to Brazil’s ahead line, which was beneath menace from all sides, the Fulham striker discovered himself remoted up entrance as captain and playmaker Dusan Tadic struggled to affect proceedings.
The second half was one-sided as Brazil shifted by the gears, with Richardson and Neymar losing gilt-edged probabilities contained in the field and Alex Sandro and Casemiro sending long-range efforts in opposition to the woodwork.
The breakthrough got here simply after the hour, excellent work by Neymar to search out Vinicius, whose preliminary shot was saved by Milinkovic-Savic, however Richardson was in the fitting place to faucet within the rebound for his first World Cup objective.
Serbia had been taking part in conservatively as much as that time and had no alternative however to push ahead, giving Brazil extra space and Richardson’s second objective introduced the most important roar of the evening from the Brazilian facet.
As Richardson tried to regulate a cross from Vinicius, the ball went over his head and he leapt into the air to execute a bicycle kick and seal the win for Brazil, a record-extending sixth World Cup. Looking for the crown of
“In the second half we fell apart physically and we weren’t playing as a team anymore. And everyone knows Brazil have great players and they punished us.”
“I’m sorry we did not have Mitrovic and (Filip) Kostic at 100%. They weren’t prepared.
“The depth was excessive within the second half and we gave Brazil an excessive amount of area. I do not know why our gamers had much less depth, it is unusual.’
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
