Richarlison helps Brazil with a ticker and wonder goal past Tadic and co


Thursday, November 24, 2022 at 9:53 PM• Guy Habets

Brazil started the World Cup with a three-pointer. The formation of national coach Tite and star player Neymar had a hard time with captain Dusan Tadic’s Serbia for a long time, but thanks to Richarlison, victory still went to the five-time world champion: 2-0. The Tottenham Hotspur attacker scored twice and his second in particular was one of great beauty.

Brazil and Serbia were the only two countries that had not acted yet. That meant that players like Neymar and Tadic were only allowed to show their abilities to the general public on Thursday evening, because both were assigned a starting place by their national coach. Neymar was in 10th position behind an attacking trio that had no place for former Ajax player Antony. Tadic is a key player in Serbia, just like in Amsterdam, and was therefore at the kick-off. He played as a hanging right winger behind striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, while former AZ and NAC player Nemanja Gudelj was one of the midfielders.

The Divine Canaries are seen as one of the top favorites for the world title, but could not really live up to that status in the first half. The solidly playing Serbs had a grip on the Brazilian attackers and were only embarrassed once before the break. Raphinha was then able to shoot freely, but decided with a limp roller in the hands of Vanja Milinkovic-Savic. Tadic and his colleagues posed little danger, partly due to the mediocre crosses of the Ajax player. They did not reach Mitrovic’s forehead.

In the phase just after the break, Brazil pressed on, helped by sloppiness in Serbia’s rear. Soon the ball was given to Raphinha, who, just like in the first half, was unable to take advantage of the space and shot too weakly. That warning turned out not to have arrived, as moments later Gudelj knocked down Neymar on the edge of the penalty area and the ensuing free kick was rammed into the wall by the PSG star in a dangerous spot. The fact that an opening goal from the South Americans was in the air became completely clear when a cannonball from Alex Sandro exploded on the post after an hour of play.

In minute 63 it fell. A shot by Vinícius Júnior could still be turned by Milinkovic-Savic, but then Richarlison was in the right place to tap the ball into the empty goal: 1-0. Ten minutes later, the Tottenham Hotspur attacker struck again and now he didn’t need a rebound to score. Through a great bycicle kick after an assumption with the left, he deposited the ball in the far corner for the 2-0 and the Serbs were definitively defeated. In the last fifteen minutes there was no change in the score, not even by Antony. He came in ten minutes before time.