Those expecting to see some showtime from Brazil and Switzerland picked the wrong venue as it was the other match in Group G between Serbia and Cameroon to feature goals and emotions today.
Conversely, the matchup at the Stadium 974 offered little to the show as the Selecao had the upper hand with a lone goal from Casemiro, thus booking their place in the knockout stage with one game in advance.
The Swiss did not record a single shot on target. Their plan to restrain Tite’s selection’s offensives worked almost until the end, but to win a football game you do need to shot as well. Perhaps that was not their coach Murat Yakin’s plan since the very beginning as the loss didn’t have any impact on the Helvetians’ qualification chances.
Switzerland will face Serbia in their final group stage matchup on Friday. Considering that they beat Cameroon while the Balkans were held to a draw by the African side, Yakin’s selection will go through if they either win or tie, while Serbia will have no other option but winning the game.
Cameroon need to beat Brazil to qualify but, even with the Selecao already promoted to the knockouts, this looks like an unlikely scenario. Good luck to the Lions Indomptables, anyway.
Qualification calculations aside, the match at the Stadium 974 is quick to recap. Coach Tite lined up Brazil in a 4-3-3 fashion where Fred replaced the injured Neymar. Yakin answered with a 4-2-3-1 setup that most often became a 4-5-1 as the Swiss spent most of their time defending.
After a goalless first half and twenty more minutes of boredom in the second period, Brazil found the back of the net from the counter as Casemiro served a fine assist to Vinicius Junior. However, the VAR spotted a Richarlison offside position and promptly brought the score back to 0-0.
On 83 minutes, the Manchester United midfield found the net himself, finalizing a spectacular team effort where Brazil showed some glimpses of what they can do when they set their minds to it. That was enough to bend Switzerland’s resistance, as the Helvetians attempted a feeble comeback by resorting to striker Fabian Frei upfront but cold not come to ever test Alisson Becker.
MATCH SCORECARD
November 27, 2022 – FIFA World Cup Group G
BRAZIL – SWITZERLAND 1-0
SCORER: 83′ Casemiro
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BRAZIL (4-3-3): Alisson; Eder Militao, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Alex Sandro (86′ Telles); Paquetà (46′ Rodrygo), Casemiro, Fred (58′ Guimaraes); Raphinha (72′ Antony), Richarlison (72′ Gabriel Jesus), Vinicius (Ederson, Weverton, Dani Alves, Bremer, Fabinho, Everton Ribeiro, Martinelli, Pedro) Coach: Tite |
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SWITZERLAND (4-2-3-1): Sommer; Widmer (86′ Frei), Akanji, Elvedi, R. Rodriguez; Freuler, Xhaka; Rieder (58′ Steffen), Sow (75′ Aebischer), Vargas (58′ Fernandes); Embolo (75′ Seferovic) (Kohn, Omlin, Kobel, Comert, Schar, Jashari, Zakaria, Shaqiri, Fassnacht) Coach: Yakin |
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Fred (B), Rieder (S); Added Time: 1st Half 3′, 2nd Half 6′
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