The Brazilian team, already favorites in the tournament, made a grand entrance to the FIFA World Cup with a beautiful 2-0 victory against Serbia in their very first game! The event took place on friday (11.25) at Lusail stadium, Brazil and Serbia competing for 3 points in Group G. Even though it took an hour for the team to get going, once they did, they showed the world why we are the “país do futebol”. The first half of the match was quite uneventful: strict defense on both sides and multiple fouls. Serbia was playing violently; they had already gotten their first yellow card by minute 6. Brazil was feeling the territory and warming up; besides dominating the ball for most of the time, getting into the adversary area was an issue. During halftime, they composed themselves and managed to return to the field as the seleção we know and love.
The second half made a whole different game: from the first minute, the Brazilian team was invading Serbian territory and free kicking towards the goal. Unfortunately, Neymar got his usual beating simply for being Neymar, and left the field limping and crying near the end of the match. He injured his ankle and gave no preview of when he might make his comeback - we can only hope he recovers before we leave the group phase. Meanwhile, Richarlison made himself the star player and scored two goals: the first one at 17 minutes and the second, an astonishing bicycle kick, at 28. Alongside the perfect balance between attack and defense, the coach Tite guaranteed Richarlison’s well rehearsed goals made a gorgeous final score. In grand excitement, Brazil took the 3 points home. Welcome back, team!