When mentioning the teams who have been the most disappointing in this tournament so far, one of the sides most likely to come up in peoples’ minds would be Brazil. Tonight though they had the chance, in their hundredth World Cup match, to put some of that disappointment behind them though as they faced the already eliminated Cameroon in Brasilia; read on to find out how they got on!
Brazil, perhaps expectedly, were on the front foot instantly with Neymar, Dani Alves, Paulinho and Fred all involved in creating some decent half chances for the hosts early on; Cameroon got forward very briefly on occasions but were frequently forced out wide and lost possession quickly. Brazil mixed up their play a bit more early on, playing short balls occasionally, building the play through Paulinho, Oscar and Gustavo but more frequently, because of the trouble it was causing Cameroon, playing long, direct balls forward to Hulk, Neymar and Fred.
After a blistering start from Brazil, Cameroon had a good spell of possession. Their spell culminated though in Choupo Moting cutting in from the left, leaving Dani Alves completely exposed, before being played in by Aboubakar and forcing a great tackle out of David Luiz to clear the danger. Cameroon will have been left rueing that one missed opportunity though as Brazil went ahead less than 20 minutes into the game. Pressing high, Luis Gustavo won the ball on the left wing before skipping past a few very weak challenges from the Cameroonian defence on the flank and crossing in towards Neymar who was completely unmarked and, with superb technique, tucked his shot past the helpless Charles Itandje to put Brazil ahead.
Neymar then tested Itandje again two minutes later after a Hulk cross deflected off the defence before looping nicely into the path of Neymar lashing a volley at the ex-Liverpool keeper, who palmed away well. Neymar was menacing at this point, involved in all of Brazil’s best play and popping up all over the pitch. The hosts were having it all their own way, playing long direct balls into the massive gaps in the Cameroonian defence; Fred and Hulk both had decent half-chances for the Brazilians but couldn’t take them.
Minutes later, that proved very costly as Brazil gave away a few corners. The second corner was cleared well but Cameroon were allowed to begin another attack far too easily. Nyom took on the pretty dire Dani Alves out on the flank, getting a lucky bounce off the full-back before sending a cross across the face of goal, past Thiago Silva and Dvid Luiz who just watched the ball, for Matip to slot home the equaliser.
The game suddenly became very end-to-end as neither side could really get a grip on proceedings; the next goal would definitely be crucial though as the Brasilia crowd seemed to be getting quite nervous. Sure enough, it was Brazil that got it. Marcelo latched onto a Cameroon clearance before being given yards to pick out a pass. He found Neymar who was equally loosely marked and the Barcelona winger was allowed to run at the defence, dance inside past the centre-backs and lash a shot low into the net to put Brazil back ahead.
Brazil made the mistake after conceding the first goal of sitting back and getting comfortable; they didn’t make that mistake this time. People criticising this Brazil side for being not as good as previous incarnations are definitely right but they should look to the end of the first half for an example of what these guys can do when they’re in the mood. Some beautiful one-touch football saw Brazil advance from the left flank into the Cameroon box before Hulk found himself in on goal but had his shot blocked; had that shot gone in, it’d have been a serious contender for goal of the tournament, if for nothing other than the team-play involved in creating it.
Brazil started the second half equally as hyped as they seemed to end the first as the hosts spurned a hatful of chances; Hulk, Neymar and Fred each went equally close before Brazil finally got their third goal less than five minutes after the restart. Marcelo again was involved as he began a second phase attack following the corner and sent in a cross in a very awkward position for Itandje. The Cameroon keeper was in two minds as to whether or not he should come out and collect it or hope his defenders did; unfortunately Fred got their first and buried the header to give Brazil a 3-1 lead; there was a hint of offside to the goal but it wasn’t give and Brazil extended their lead.
Brazil were now comfortably in control of proceedings and had plenty of chances to further extend their lead but saw them all go begging; in fact they were committing so much to going forward that they looked a bit vulnerable at times when they lost possession. Cameroon weren’t offensively astute enough to make them pay for it but make no mistake, playing Chile in the next round will test them in that regard and then some.
There was a bit of drama late in the game as Mexico in the other game scored quite heavily and matched Brazil’s goal difference, causing a few nervous jeers around the stadium as Brazil, if Mexico trumped their goal difference, would face Holland in the next round instead of Chile. Thankfully for Brazilian fans, Fernandinho put paid to those concerns as the game approached it’s conclusion. The substitute linked up well with Oscar on the edge of Cameroon’s box with the one-two before advancing into penalty area and tucking Brazil’s fourth goal of the game home and seal top spot in the group.
Brazil won quite convincingly in the end then but don’t let that lull you into a false sense of security for the next round; Cameroon were pretty shambolic. Brazil still have a lot of work to do to challenge the likes of Chile in the knockout rounds, never mind achieve their target and win the tournament. Stick with us at Fortitude to see how it all pans out!