A GREAT START FOR BRAZIL AGAINST SERBIA THANKS TO RICHARLISON'S EXCELLENT GOAL
There was a lot of expectation that this would be Neymar's World Cup. However, on this occasion, Richarlison is going to carry him there for him. With a stunning brace, the Tottenham Hotspur striker scored the goal of the tournament so far as part of a 2-0 win over Serbia in the opening match of the tournament. A moment of magnificence took place with the second goal. This was an impressive strike from the man who is not without his critics and who bares the burden of wearing Brazil's famous number nine shirt, in a tournament lacking any really spectacular strikes.
As soon as Vinicius Jr fired the ball into his path, he popped it up with one foot, before swiveling and firing a spectacular volley past Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, who had already made a superb performance in goal. Over the course of the next three weeks, it will be difficult to beat this goal, which is without a doubt the most memorable goal so far of the tournament. As a result, Richarlison's brilliant performance came to a close, yet again proving to everyone how different he is when he dons the famous yellow shirt. Having scored nine goals in his last seven internationals, he has now become the go-to man for Brazil's national team.
There is no Neymar, Vinicius, or Raphinha, none of them. There is one exception, however, and it is Richarlison. In the build-up to this game, coach Tite said he "smelt of goals," and Tite certainly followed that up with another impressive display of goalscoring that made the whole of Doha smell of goals. The Serbians had done well to keep the scores level following Alex Sandro's long-range effort that smashed off the post. Despite resolute defending for an hour, Brazil was finally able to break the deadlock when they finally put the game away. In the 82nd minute, Richarlison scored from a close range after Vinicius found some space on the wing and although his drive was saved, he reacted quicker than Vinicius to thump the ball into the net.
Recently, he has been the man in the right place so many times for Brazil, and, despite suffering a calf injury recently, he has made the World Cup squad, and he is now ready to take the team to the top. The favorites to win the entire competition, Serbia, had a tough time containing or breaking down the Serbian defense, but this was a superb team performance from the favorites to win. Although Brazil's forwards were energetic, it was their defense that could prove to be the difference in this World Cup for them. There is no doubt that Serbia has plenty of attacking talent in the form of Aleksander Mitrovic, Dusan Tadic, and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, but Thiago Silva and Marquinos were imperious in their work. It has been observed that Tite has also managed to get everyone, despite the egos, to defend as a team. There is no doubt that they have the best front four in the tournament, but they all work off the ball, and when it comes down to it, one of them will put something on the board.
There was a chance that there would have been more goals, Casemiro curled a ball onto the crossbar, and Vinicius should have found the net on several occasions, but this is a team that has a great deal of talent at its disposal. Rodrygo, Gabriel Martinelli, and Antony were brought on as a result of Serbia throwing on an extra striker to try and score a goal. There was almost an air of contempt in the room as if he was the biggest kid on the playground just flexing his biceps for fun. On paper, no other squad in the tournament has a chance to compete with this side. However, World Cups are not won on paper. It is very pleasing to see the way Tite's men dealt with the toughest test of the group stage they are likely to face, and they did it with a smile on their faces. Brazil's number nine scoring goals at a World Cup has always been a joy to watch, even if it wasn't the Neymar show many were hoping for, perhaps it's still to come. There is no doubt that the tournament favorites have just justified their billing as favorites.
