Brazil 2-0 Serbia
Brazil outclassed Serbia 2-0 in their World Cup opener on Thursday as Richarlison’s second-half goals, including a spectacular overhead kick, propelled the five-times champions to the top of Group G.
The Tottenham Hotspur forward has been in fine form when wearing the golden yellow kit of Brazil this year and he opened the scoring with an easy tap-in before doubling the lead with his acrobatic effort.
It was his ninth goal for Brazil in seven games in 2022 as Brazil leapfrogged Switzerland, who are second in the group after they beat Cameroon 1-0. Serbia are bottom.
Tite’s decision to go with four forwards – Neymar, Vinicius Jr., Raphinha and Richarlison – in his attacking lineup paid off handsomely as the South Americans dominated the match and made Serbia work hard every time they went forward.
Vinicius used his flair and acceleration to good effect to constantly beat his man while Neymar, playing in a free role, often found pockets of space, but a well-drilled Serbian defence kept Brazil at bay in the first half.
Brazil’s best chance of the half, however, came when Neymar tried to catch goalkeeper Milinkovic-Savic off guard from a corner, whipping in an inswinger that was on target before the Torino player punched it clear.
Serbia had been sweating over the fitness of their all-time top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic but coach Dragan Stojkovic named him in the starting lineup.
