Brazil beat Costa Rica 2-0 in Group E matchPhilippe Coutinho and Neymar come to the rescue for Brazil as both strike in the injury time to help the five-time champions register their first victory in the 2018 World Cup.Neymar also joins the party in the injury time, strikes to put Brazil 2-0 ahead.Philippe Coutinho scores to give Brazil 1-0 lead.Six minutes of injury time addedNavas gets injured after saving Neymar's cross in the dying moments of the match.Four minutes to go with both teams still looking to break the deadlock.Coutinho goes for a shot from 25 yards, but his strikes was blocked by Gonzalez.Acosta of Costa Rica gets the yellow card.Tejedareplaces Guzman for Costa Rica.Neymar tries to apply trick after Gonzalez puts his arm on him. Referee takes VAR help and clears the Costa Rican, Brazil not awarded the penalty.' Substitution for Costa Rica. Christian Gamboa leaves the field, Francisco Calvo comes in.Neymar misses a big opportunity to put Brazil ahead, he snatches the ball from Costa Rica's Gamboa near outside the box but his shot goes wide of the target.Neymar takes the right corner and Casemiro's header goes straight into the heads of Navas.Another substitution for Brazil. Paulinho is off the field, Firmino joins the team for the rest of the match.Free kick for Costa Rica.Neymar's left-footed shot from outside the box goes straight into the hands of Navas, who fumbles a bit to collect the ball.Neymar with the counter attack, dribbles the ball with three defenders and sends in a brilliant pass and his teammate fails to control it.Brazil is looking different team altogether in the second half. Philippe Coutinho fires a straight shot and Costa Rica keeper Navas makes no mistake to save it.Substitution for Costa Rica. Urena makes way for Bolanos.Poor delivery from Marcelo inside the box as his shot finds no player.Nothing going in Brazil's way but they come all guns blazing in the second half. Gabriel Jesus beats Navas this time but his header hits the bar. Lucky survival for Costa Rica.Marcelo's long pass from the left near the top of the box intercepted by Costa Rican player.Douglas Costa replaces Willian for Brazil.Brazil had more of the possession and more of the shots but they could not turn their dominance into goals as the first half of their second World Cup Group E match with Costa Rica ended 0-0.Brazil 0-0 Costa RicaOne minute of injury time addedKeylor Navas is keeping himself busy to frustrate Brazil.First corner of the match and it goes Brazil's way. Willian sends in from the right, Paulinho slips in the box and the danger averted for Costa Rica.Brazil's Willian gets inside from the right flank to shoot on his left. His effort goes wide of the post.Coutinho gets another chance to open Brazil's account, but his attempt sails over the post.Coutinho takes a brilliant pass on the top of the Costa Rica defence, but his poor touch helps Navas stop the ball.Disappointment for Brazil. Gabriel Jesus controls Marcelo's pass beautifully and nets into the goal. But it was given offside, hence the goal is disallowed.Costa Rica's Gamboa had another effort from the right flank and Venegas gets the header in the box. Brazilian defence manages to save it.Another free kick awarded to Brazil and Neymar fails to capitalise on it, his over hit was easily taken by Keylor Navas.Neymar takes his second free-kick of the match, this time from the left flank, but the result remains the same as Costa Rica defence again deny their opponents from taking the lead.This could be the moment of the match. Gamboa displays exceptional work from the right flank but Borges puts his effort wide of the post.Casemiro is off the field for his treatment for a nosebleed.Brazil get the free-kick. Neymar goes for it and hits it from the right flank. Costa Rican defence is alert enough to avert the danger as Gonzalez clears the ball.Costa Rica's Urena finds Bryan Ruiz's long pass but Thiago Silva tackles the forward to deny his challenge.Brazil had two chances early in the game. Bryan Ruiz loses the ball on the edge of the box and Philippe Coutinho's shot goes flies high over the goal post.Referee blows the whistle and the Group E match between Brazil and Costa Rica gets underway at Saint Petersburg Stadium.Players are out on the field and it's time for national anthem.Alisson Becker, Fagner, Thiago Silva (capt), Joao Miranda, Marcelo; Casemiro, Paulinho, Philippe Coutinho; Willian, Gabriel Jesus, NeymarTiteKeylor Navas; Cristian Gamboa, Johnny Acosta, Giancarlo Gonzalez, Oscar Duarte, Bryan Oviedo (capt); Celso Borges, David Guzman, Bryan Ruiz; Johan Venegas, Marcos UrenaOscar RamirezNeymar will start Brazil's crunch World Cup clash with Costa Rica on Friday as coach Tite kept faith in the side that started a disappointing 1-1 draw to open their campaign against Switzerland.Corinthians right-back Fagner replaced the injured Danilo in Brazil's only change.There had been concerns over Neymar's fitness after he limped out of training on Tuesday, two days after receiving rough treatment from the Swiss.However, Tite insisted on the eve of the game he wasn't running a risk by handing the world's most expensive player just his second competitive start for four months after his club season was ended in February by a broken bone in his right foot.Costa Rica also made just one change from their 1-0 defeat by Serbia with former Everton full-back Bryan Oviedo replacing Francisco Calvo on the left side of a five-man defence.Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the Group E match between Brazil and Costa Rica of the 2018 World Cup at Saint Petersburg Stadium in Russia.
Five-time World Cup winners Brazil will aim to achieve their first victory of the 2018 tournament when they play Costa Rica in Saint Petersburg.
Neymar and Co were held 1-1 by Switzerland in their opening Group E fixture at the weekend and need three points to move a step closer to the knockout rounds.
Join ADAM SHERGOLD for live coverage of the match, with build-up getting underway at 11am UK time.
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Until stoppage time, it appeared that Brazil was going to need a win against a solid Serbia team in its third match to get through to the knockout stage, and it still might. Brazil last failed to advance out of group play in 1966. Still, for all the team’s brilliance both individually and in qualifying, Brazil has looked nothing like “Brazil” for the better part of three hours of soccer in Russia.
Maybe it was the royal blue uniforms they lined up in Friday, rather than their famous canary yellow shirts, that made Brazil look so unfamiliar, so off, but then they wore those in the first match and managed only a goal and a draw against Switzerland.
Was it discomfort with a European location? Ten of the 11 players in the starting lineup and the first two off the bench Friday play for clubs in Europe.
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Asked to explain Brazil’s struggles, Tite said: “It’s a World Cup. The margin of error is very slim.”
Within minutes of the kickoff Friday afternoon, the whistles began rising from a crowd dominated by Brazilian fans. Carrying expectations that few other teams face, Brazil is not only supposed to win but win with style and dominance. Instead, Brazil was just another frustrated, struggling team with a superstar who wasn’t living up to his name and a lineup that seemed not to want to run.
“We know the responsibility is huge,” said Philippe Coutinho, who scored Brazil’s first goal. “When you are playing with the national team, emotionally, the coach always highlights the fact that you have to be mentally strong from the beginning to the end. Even if you score in first or last minute, you still have 90 minutes to fight. That was what happened.”
No one was worse than Willian, the Chelsea midfielder who botched passes to his feet, gave away balls and sent shots so far high and wide of the crossbar that Tite subbed him out at halftime. Willian was hardly alone, though. Brazil barely created any good chances through the first half, when they mostly wandered the field and sniped at the referee, Bjorn Kuipers of the Netherlands, for not giving them more free kicks.
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Late in the first half, Paulinho led a rush up the right side and played a perfect centering pass across the middle of the penalty area. There wasn’t a blue shirt within 10 yards of it to connect for a shot.
In the second half, Brazil came out with a new resolve and produced an early flourish, pressing Costa Rica deep in its end and jetting to every loose ball as if the players were trying to avoid the flogging they were going to get back home if this match somehow didn’t go their way.
But the chances did not turn into goals. Gabriel Jesus clanked a header of the crossbar. The rebound ended up at the feet of Coutinho near the 18-yard line. His shot was headed for the open left side of the net, but defender Cristian Gamboa got his shin in the way at the last moment. Minutes later, Neymar was handed a sitter from seven yards, but sent it sailing above the crossbar, and Coutinho hit another open strike from in front of the goal right into at the arms of Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
As the minutes ticked toward the end of regulation, Costa Rica, disciplined and organized in a five-man back line, held firm. For long stretches, the Ticos kept every player behind the ball, frustrating the surging Brazilians
“I don’t know what else we could have done,” Costa Rica Manager Oscar Ramirez said. “We were playing against the second-best team in the world. They have great players. Considering what I have, it was reasonable what we did.”
It nearly worked. Kuipers scolded Neymar to stop yapping at him about uncalled fouls, then delivered a yellow card when Neymar slammed the ball with his hand after yet another didn’t go his way. After one open shot from 20 yards sailed into the stands, Neymar hid his face in his shirt, devoid of the usual swagger he carries on the world’s biggest stage.
Then, just in the nick of time, Brazil did turn into some version of Brazil: not the fancy one but the one that nearly always gets the results it needs. Marcelo’s pass in from the right in the first minute of stoppage time found Roberto Firmino’s head and then Gabriel Jesus’s foot, and when it dropped into an open patch of grass right in front of Navas, Coutinho dashed into the space and slammed the ball past him.
In the final minute, Neymar got his revenge, turning home a pass from the substitute Douglas Costa behind a helpless Navas. When the final whistle blew moments later, he collapsed to his knees in tears at the center of the field, covering his eyes again, this time overcome by the emotion of the narrow escape.
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Tite didn’t escape unscathed, either. Rushing the field to celebrate the first goal, he got tripped up and tumbled to the grass.
“I kind of pulled a muscle,” he said later. “It tore some fibers. I’m limping during the celebration.”
——
Here’s how Brazil beat Costa Rica:
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Full Time: Brazil 2, Costa Rica 0
Brazil saved the game, and maybe its World Cup, with a stoppage-time goal over Costa Rica on Friday in St. Petersburg. After dominating the action for 90 minutes, but finding frustration from Costa Rica’s dogged defense and keeper Keylor Navas, Brazil finally broke through on a goal by Philippe Coutinho in the 91st minute. Neymar added another goal in 97th minute for a 2-0 win.
90’ + 5: GOAL! Neymar Adds One
Brazil gets a second as time expires. Casemiro finds Douglas Costa in the area, who plays a little two-on-none with Neymar. Brazil’s previously-frustrated star slots it home. That one had to feel good after a game’s worth of struggle.
90’ + 3: Brazil Still Firing
Brazil almost scored again when Coutinho found an open Firmino, but his shot sailed wide.
90’ +1: GOAL! Coutinho Delivers
Coutinho finally, finally scores.
Firmino headed a cross by Marcelo, then Jesus made a little touch pass to an onrushing Coutinho, who smashed it in.
90’: Stoppage Time
Six more minutes for Brazil.
89’: Another Chance for Brazil, but No Score
Neymar dribbles it up, launches it into the area, but Navas fists it away.
87’: Navas in the Right Spot
Casemiro from distance, again right to the keeper. But there will be a free kick for Brazil after the two Costa Ricans currently rolling around get up.
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85’: Brazil Still Shooting
Coutinho with another shot, but it’s right to Navas.
82’: Yellows for Neymar and Coutinho
Yellow to Neymar for spiking the ball in disgust. Costa Rica’s Acosta went down and acted out an injury, delaying play. Neymar wasn’t having it and let the referee know. Yellow. Coutinho gets involved as well. Yellow. Brazil is getting very frustrated, to say the least.
80’: Penalty! No Penalty!
Penalty to Brazil! A breakaway leads to Neymar with the ball just in front of goal. Gonzalez goes over to him and, well, tugs him slightly and leans into him. Neymar sells it hard, and gets the call. But a video review is called, and the penalty is reversed.
Matthew Futterman: This building nearly exploded with that reversed penalty call.
78’: Coutinho Takes a Turn
A little chip by Coutinho hovers in the air, pregnant with possibility. But it’s keeper Navas who gets there first.
77’: Costa Rica Firm Again
Neymar’s shot is blocked, leading to another corner by Neymar. Which is headed away. Full points to Costa Rica’s defense, which is tireless.
72’ The Goal Gets Smaller for Brazil
Neymar on the move after a steal, belts one high and wide. He should have done better. Brazil is looking less fluid, a little, maybe, desperate? Brazil leads in shots 16-4 now.
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71’: Corner. Header. Save.
Casemiro with a header off a Neymar corner. Saved. Just before that, Neymar went tumbling in the box, but the referee had none of it.
69’: Firmino On for Brazil
Brazil will try to find a goal from Roberto Firmino of Liverpool, removing Paulinho.
68’: A Scare for Brazil
The ball bounces off six or seven heads in the Brazil area. Not a shot exactly, but plenty scary for Brazil.
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64’: Neymar Fires, Navas Saves
Neymar’s shot from just outside the box bounces off of Navas, but no one is there to capitalize. Time is shortening ... Brazil would be in a real bother in the group if it can only get a draw here.
Matthew Futterman: If Brazil can get one they will probably get three. But Costa Rica seems like it really believes it can escape this match with a draw.
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62’: Counter Attack Leads Nowhere
Corner for Costa Rica after a long ball forces two clearances by Brazilian heads. Then Brazil breaks the other way with a 3-on-2 but it comes to nothing.
58’: Navas Saves Again
Costa sends a pass into the area for Jesus, who tips it to Coutinho, who’s ready to fire away. His shot goes right to Navas, who spills it for a split second, but collects.
57’: Neymar Misses
Paulinho with the steal, the cross to Neymar in the box ... but he puts it over the bar.
51’: Brazil Attacking Relentlessly
Gabriel Jesus off the crossbar! Coutinho wide! Corner after corner. Brazil is creating chances every moment. They had Navas beat, but Jesus’s header struck the bar solidly. That was Brazil’s best chance at a goal so far.
49’: Brazil Threatens Immediately
Coutinho sends it in and Neymar gets to the ball just in front of goal. But Navas is there first and there’s a collision. Not a shot officially, but perhaps the closest to a Brazilian goal so far.
46’: Can Brazil Break Down Costa’s Rica’s Defenses?
While Brazil dominated the half, the consensus of the instapundits online seems to be that they were terrible. Memories of great Brazilian teams of the past always create sky-high expectations for Brazil. Let’s see if they can break down Costa Rica in the last 45 minutes.
Halftime: Brazil Attacking, but Not Finishing
Brazil leads in shots, 7-3, but officially only one was on target (none of Costa Rica’s were). More incisive finishing is needed in the second half. Brazil also leads in possession, 64-36, and pass accuracy by a big margin of 89-70.
45’: Costa Rica’s Defense Doing the Job
Once again, Brazil brings the ball up facing an eight-man defense. It’s a successful tactic for Costa Rica so far.
42’: Navas Takes It Easy
Marcelo shoots from just outside the area, drawing a fairly easy save from Navas on the near post.
Matthew Futterman: Willian is officially having a terrible game. Brazil is resorting to begging for fouls on their deep attacks but referee Bjorn Kuipers is having none of it.
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39’: Costa Rica Counters, but Offside
A corner by Willian goes astray, and Costa Rica go for the long ball. It’s two-on-two, have they caught Brazil napping? No, it’s offside.
Andrew Das: Brazil’s been uncharacteristic sloppy. Or maybe characteristically sloppy, given their imprecise performances here. Whatever it is, they’re going to need to tighten up —or get something really special — to beat Keylor Navas.
32’: Oviedo Saves One for Costa Rica
Neymar crosses the ball right in front of goal and Oviedo of Costa Rica makes the saving header. This is skillful attacking soccer by Brazil. They have 68 percent of possession and really have done enough to deserve a goal here.
Matthew Futterman: Brazil could score six goals in the next eight minutes, or in any eight minutes, but it’s hard to argue that this team looks particularly sharp. Compared with the lightning-fast cutting and zig-zagging the team is usually known for, they are playing crazily slow. They’ve looked like any other team for much of the first half. Just very basic.
30’: Brazil on the Attack
More shots from Brazil. Coutinho gets a good look but hits it over. Costa Rica can’t get it out of their end.
29’: Marcelo Off Target
Marcelo takes the shot himself this time after a turnover, and it goes two feet wide. All Brazil right now.
27’: Offside!
Marcelo with a steal, to Neymar — scary for Costa Rica here — into the box for Gabriel Jesus ... he’s wide open and puts it in the net. But he’s offsides!
Replays confirm the call was correct.
25’: Costa Rica Holding Firm
Costa Rica’s defense has a deserved reputation as a lockbox, and Brazil has not yet been able to pick it open,
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24’: Neymar Banged Around
Neymar’s now been fouled three times. Another free kick, but Thiago Silva heads it wide.
20’: Contact With the Keeper
Costa Rica keeper Keylor Navas is about to make a throw when Miranda barges into him. He’s annoyed but the ref lets it go.
17’: Costa Rica Clears
Neymar appears fine, if not 100 percent. Another free kick for the Brazilian star, from further out this time, is headed clear.
16’: Neymar Goes Down
A worrying moment for Brazil fans as Neymar goes down, possibly with an ankle injury. He looks pained, but is soon up again.
16’: Costa Rica Threatens
Casemiro’s back quickly, and Ruiz gets a dangerous touch in the box for Costa Rica, though it goes nowhere fast.
Matthew Futterman: Even before Costa Rica mounted this mini-surge of aggressiveness, the Brazilian fans were growing very restless with the Selecao’s patience. Lots of whistles emanating from the stands. Brazil has the double pressure of having to win and win with style. A plodding 1-0 win even over a team that plays with five men in the back line doesn’t fly in Rio in Sao Paulo.
13’: Casemiro Gets Bloodied
A brief delay while Casemiro of Brazil heads to the bench with a bloody nose. But this is soccer, so play resumes quickly.
11’: Neymar’s First Free Kick
Neymar’s free kick to the back post is headed clear by Costa Rica, who hoof it up the field.
Matthew Futterman: Costa Rica is doing what Costa Rica does, but even more so. They have spent most of the first 10 minutes with their entire team behind the ball. Their only means of attack is sending the ball forward when they do get it to a lone Marcos Urena. Poor guy is left to try to beat two defenders and a goalie on his own. That’s probably not going to go so well.
7’: Gamboa Shoots ... Not Close
A pretty good spell of possession for Costa Rica ends with Gamboa bombing a shot from miles away that goes way over.
6’: Costa Rica Plays Long Ball
Costa Rica tips its strategic hand for this game by booting the ball far downfield. Brazil’s Thiago Silva handles it.
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4’: Close Call for Brazil
Gabriel Jesus is the first to get the ball in a dangerous position for Brazil. He is dispossessed, but the ball comes out to Coutinho, who sails it over the bar.
By contrast Tite had stuck with largely the same personnel yet turned them into a coherent whole. Renato Augusto, a 2016 Olympic gold medallist, was already in Dunga’s side but has been transformed into a deep-lying playmaker in the Andrea Pirlo mode by Tite who used him there for Corinthians. During four seasons at Bayer Leverkusen, he played behind the strikers but in this withdrawn role he dictates the tempo and runs the game. Behind him sat Casemiro or Fernandinho and to his right the recalled Paulinho. These three roles were the heart of the new Brazil, a holder, a playmaker and a box-to-box raider just as Ralf, Jadson and Elias drove Corinthians on. With Neymar to the left, Philippe Coutinho or Willian on the right and Gabriel Jesus or Roberto Firmino through the middle they have the flexibility to spring from 4-1-4-1 to 4-3-3 and, with Paulinho’s lung-bursting runs, something approaching the 4-2-4 that makes the heart sing. But against Switzerland Tite dropped Renato Augusto, moved Coutinho into midfield from where he scored a terrific goal. The change, however, left the side unbalance and the motor clogged up, piddle in the petrol tank.
Brazil do not have midfielders of Gerson’s quality or Socrates’ or Falcao’s, but Tite did have a functioning system in which the players understood their assignments and had the confidence to trust the coach’s judgment. Last March Paulinho scored a hat-trick in a 1-4 victory over Uruguay in Montevideo arriving each time with the judicious timing of a player who reads the game fluently. As we saw at the typically bombastic Barcelona unveiling in August, Paulinho may not be able to execute pointless tricks with precision but stick him in a match and he plays with poise and intelligence.
In addition Tite had addressed the reliance on Neymar by sometimes, paraphrasing Barry Davies’ immortal line, “using him by not using him”. “The collective empowers the individual,” the coach says. “If the ball arrives to Neymar, they mark [him], but the other side is more exposed. Coutinho creates chances. Enter Fagner, enter Paulinho. We take Neymar to one side, let him be isolated and make room for another.” You can tell by the tears when Tite praised him last week and pledged his support, that Neymar, caricatured as a prima donna, is anything but in a canary shirt. Note that the collective ‘empowers the individual’ but only to serve the collective and Neymar buys into this.
Brazil have to get back to that today and could begin by using the system that transformed their fortunes over the past two years. The World Cup is no place for experimentation and stroking the egos of nine-figure transfer-fee talents.
