Tite, who was wearing a dark suit while he stalked the grass in front of Brazil’s bench, allowed himself to be engulfed by his players as they cavorted in celebration around him. Eventually, he joined them with a wiggle of his shoulders and hips. Tite was able to do this because he allowed himself to be engulfed by his players. More than 15 minutes had not yet elapsed since the beginning of the first half.
That is how carefree of a game it was for Brazil, and that is how much joy it took in dismantling an outmatched South Korean squad in the round of 16 on a balmy Monday night in Doha. The Brazilians stuck to the same routine the entire night, which consisted of celebrating each goal with a jubilant dance until the final whistle blew, which put an end to their good time. Although they won by a significant margin (4-1), the score did not accurately reflect their performance.
Even though South Korea offered only mild resistance to the outburst of collective skill displayed by Brazil, the performance undoubtedly solidified the South American nation’s position as one of the favourites to win the FIFA World Cup Trophy on December 18. On Friday, Brazil will play its next game, which will be in the quarterfinal round against Croatia. Brazil will be favourites to win that game as well.
Richarlison, one of Tite’s strikers, produced one of the most impressive displays of individual wizardry in the tournament so far when he scored the team’s third goal, which set Tite, 61, off on his celebratory dance. This goal was the one that got Tite to start dancing in the first place.
Richarlison made a slick play to try to keep possession of the ball while he was tussling with a South Korean defender just outside the penalty area. He did this by bouncing the ball three times off his head. At long last, he was able to bring the ball to the ground, shimmied into some open space, and then passed the ball off to a member of his team. As he raced toward the goal, the ball was already on its way back to him; all he needed to do was slide it past the goalkeeper for South Korea, Kim Seung-gyu.
Richarlison has established himself as one of the most exciting attacking players in the world by establishing himself as one of the most exciting players in the tournament by scoring his third goal of the competition.
But Richarlison and Tite were not the only ones smiling broadly and shuffling their feet with delight on Monday. The Brazilians kept up their lively dancing throughout the night.
After scoring Brazil’s first goal in the seventh minute, Vincius Jnior was seen leading three of his teammates in a coordinated jig near the left corner flag. This came after Vincius Jnior had scored the goal.
Following scoring the team’s second goal in the 13th minute on a penalty kick, Neymar took a leading role in an unexpected mosh pit that formed after the goal.
After scoring the fourth goal in the 36th minute, Lucas Paqueta was seen tap dancing frantically in the right corner by himself, ripping up the grass while maintaining a serious expression on his face.
It was, all in all, a remarkable return to form for the Brazilians, who were defeated by Cameroon in their last encounter of the group stage last week while rotating a large portion of their lineup.
The only persons who were seen on Monday without a smile were those who were from South Korea. It must have been a rude awakening for them to play the game so soon after the excitement of their last game in the group stage, when they advanced to the knockout phase on the strength of a sensational goal scored in injury time.
In comparison to Brazil, they had a fairly unimpressive performance. Their lone goal, scored by Paik Seung-ho from a long distance outside of the penalty area in the 76th minute, was a magnificent strike. Aside from it, though, they had a hard time gaining any form of footing against Brazil’s unrelenting excellence.
Their only other consolation, if it can even be termed a consolation, was that they were able to force the Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson to make his first save of the whole competition. He finished the game with a total of five before being taken out of the game late in the second half.
When the first loud shout of the evening went out over the stands of Stadium 974, which is located on Doha’s muggy waterfront, the bleachers had just begun to fill up with spectators. Neymar, who had missed the Brazilians’ previous two games after injured his right ankle in their first encounter, emerged out of the tunnel and onto the fresh green field. He was wearing a newly blonde hairstyle and glittering diamonds on his earlobes.
The following three hours and ten minutes would demonstrate that Brazil has a remarkable collection of talent, with a team that is made of some of the best players in the world. However, a great deal is still dependent on Neymar, the mercurial playmaker who hails from Sao Paulo. He was the person that every supporter yearned to see in person.
Neymar performed mostly like he does in most situations, gliding around the field with the ball and throwing off balance opponents with his slinky manoeuvres.
However, for the teams who are still competing in this tournament, the most frightening aspect of Brazil may not be the return of Neymar, but rather the emergence of so many shining talents surrounding him. As a group, they will do their best to keep the party going for as long as possible throughout the competition.
