If we just go by the score line there’s no question that Spain is the most impressive team of the tournament so far. Context is everything in soccer though so putting their performance over Brazil’s may not be entirely fair. Granted, it’s not Spain’s fault that they faced a Costa Rica team that’s one of the weakest squads of the tournament. On the other hand Brazil faced a Serbia team that despite the loss has to be pleased with parts of that game. They pressed Brazil and made it very hard on them throughout 30 minutes of the game.
From there though, it did seem like Brazil took over the game because Serbia was not physically able to keep up the pressure. The desert heat is getting to some teams, and that may be something to watch out for particularly in the later rounds. Ultimately Brazil pressed on and found multiple goal scoring chances. Naturally Richarlison’s second goal takes much of the spotlight. By that point though Brazil was overwhelming Serbia.
What We Really Liked From Brazil
The thing with Brazil is that they just feature too many players that can carry the ball up field and beat anyone in a 1v1 situation. The other teams know that, and so they try to force 2-on-1 scenarios. A lot of times with the speed at which Brazil players are able to play they just seem to find open spaces even against defenses that are completely locked tight within their own box.
This speed at which they play offensively allows them to break down any team. That’s something that we saw Argentina completely lack against Saudi Arabia for example. Perhaps Spain is the only other team in the tournament that’s proven that they have equal speed offensively. In a direct comparison though, you have to think that Brazil with Richarlison, Neymar, Vinicius, and company just have more talent than the young Spanish team.
WHAT A GOAL FROM RICHARLISON!!! BRAZIL 2-0
— 🇵🇹 (@Asensii20) November 24, 2022
pic.twitter.com/ntcGAzgs0S
Perhaps The Deepest Bench In The Tournament
One of the moments when it could be argued that Brazil really put the whole world on notice was when they started to change things up and brought the likes of Gabriel Jesus, and Rodrygo onto the pitch. Obviously we don’t think Canada is on the same level as Brazil, but they were the perfect example because of what we saw yesterday. When they had to make changes the players that came on were not on the same level as the ones that started the game. With Brazil there’s literally no drop in the quality of players even if they would have to go deep into their bench. There’s an argument to be made that the weakest link on the entire Brazil roster is Dani Alves. His issue is just age, but he was one of the best players of his generation.
What Could Be Brazil’s Downfall?
The key to beating Brazil is forcing Neymar to play away from your goal. Neymar in that middle third of the field is a liability defensively. Of course, most teams are going to be reluctant to press Brazil high because you then have to deal with Vinicius down the wing one on one. With such a good team though you have to pick your poison anyway.
If Tite is going to continue to feature Neymar in that midfield as a traditional number 10 the best way to beat Brazil is to crowd the middle of the field and force Neymar to have to get back on defense and cover. Realistically there are just a few squads in the entire tournament that could pull this off. Spain, and France come to mind as teams that could do this effectively. We saw the Saudi team use similar tactics against Messi, and it worked! They got lucky with the offside calls, but it worked.
