With their talisman Neymar back on the field, Brazil stormed into the quarterfinal in style, crushing South Korea 4-1 in their round of 16 match at the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
Perhaps stung by their 0-1 loss to 38th ranked Cameroon in the final group stage match, the Selecao started the match with purpose - something that was missing in their last two matches. Lining up in 4-2-3-1 format, with Richarlison as the centre-forward, Brazil attacked from the outset. Danilo and Neymar were back in the playing XI after missing the last two matches due to injuries.
Their intent bore fruit as early as the 7th minute. Raphinha charged down the right, crossing into the box. Neymar failed to connect but the ball fell to Vinicius Jr., who took his time and calmly slotted home past onrushing South Korean players.
Four minutes later, Neymar made it 2-0 for Brazil, coolly converting from the spot after Richarlison was brought down inside the box. Neymar, with 76 goals, is one short of Pele’s record now.
It was the second time Brazil had scored two in the first 30 minutes in a World Cup match - the last time being in 2002 against Costa Rica when they won 5-2.
South Korea tried to claw back into the match, with their best chance coming in the 17th minute. Hwang Hee-chan curled one into the top right corner but Alisson Becker brought out a fine one-handed save to tip the ball over the bar.
It got worse for the South Koreans, as the Brazilians produced yet another moment of magic in the 29th minute. Richarlison won the ball on the edge of the box, bouncing it on his head, and passed it on to Marquinhos, who crossed it on to Thiago Silva. The veteran then played a delightful through ball back to Richarlison, who had continued his run into the box, and the latter finished it with ease.
The dancing shoes were on as the Brazilians celebrated, with coach Tite, too, joining in.
South Korea had a great chance to pull one back in the 32nd minute, as H. Hwang made his way into the box, but was blocked by Becker.
It was 4-0 soon, as Neymar released Vinicius Jr down the left, who scooped the ball into the box to Lucas Paqueta to bury the ball low into the net with a first-time strike in the 36th minute.
Brazil had two golden chances to score their fifth at the stroke of half-time, but Paqueta’s chip was saved well by goalkeeper S. Kim, while Raphinha went with an outstretched leg what would have been an easy header off a Vinicius Jr cross.
Incidentally, the last time a team had scored four goals in the first half in a knockout game, was in the 2014 World Cup semifinal between Brazil and Germany, which the latter went on to win 7-1.
Post the break, however, the South Koreans played with purpose, with H. Son being denied an early goal by Becker.
Raphinha came close to scoring Brazil’s fifth, but was denied by a brilliant Kim in the 54th and 62nd minutes. The tempo dropped thereafter as the five-time champions were content with the four-goal cushion.
It resulted in South Korea pulling one back in the 76th minute, albeit with a bit of fortune. Paik Seung-ho latched on to a loose ball from a free-kick and volleyed home, helped on by a deflection off a Brazilian player.
South Korea kept trying to reduce the margin, but Brazil held on to set up a quarterfinal date on Friday with Croatia, who overcame Japan earlier in the day on penalties.