Brazil were in the groove in the round of 16 clash against the South Koreans as they defeated the Asians 4-1 which simply gave a warning sign to Croatia who will be their next opponents in the quarterfinals. It was Vinicius Junior who scored the opener in the first ten minutes and then Neymar Jr. who is returning to this game after picking up an ankle injury in the first game against Serbia, the Paris Saint Germain star was very imposing on the South Korean defenders.
The job was already done at halftime, South Korea decided to slow down the tempo of the game. The Asians kept fighting and did not let their heads drop as they scored a mere consolation in the second half courtesy of a strike from Seung-ho Paik.
Apart from early goals by Vinicius and Meymar who scored from the penalty spot, there were goals from Lucas Paqueta and Richarlison, who is having a dream World Cup in Qatar.
South Korea had a much better second half and it was more so because Brazil did not want to over exert themselves in a game that is already won. But still the experience of making it to the World Cup knockouts and facing a team like Brazil proves how far they still need to travel to compete with these heavyweights.
Brazil qualified with aplomb and will face last World Cup’s finalists, Croatia who were beaten by France in Russia and have started a fresh journey in Qatar to prove themselves once again. They played out a 1-1 draw in regulation and extra time until the game followed to penalties and there the Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic made history in the World Cup of pulling out three saves and guiding the Croatians through to the next round.
Neymar who missed the matches against Switzerland and Cameroon returned against South Korea and later after the win he shared how the fear of another World Cup coming to an end for him kept lingering on his mind and he got the support of his near and dear ones and hence he was able to return to action against the South Koreans.
Speaking after the 4-1 win Neymar shared how he was afraid that his World Cup campaign might be over after injury in the first match against Serbia. He said, “When I got injured, I had a very difficult night.”
He admitted that he was going through a lot of things and felt the World CUp is over for him. He showed gratitude towards his near and dear ones who helped him through this journey of pain, agony and big dreams. “I was thinking of a million different things and I was afraid I might not be able to play in this World Cup again, but I had the support of all my colleagues, my family and I tried to look for strength where I could not find it,” Neymar shared.
The Brazilian fans all over the world will be hoping that the Selecaos keep winning matches in such dominant style as they turn up against Croatia next with a potential Argentina clash looming in the distance at the semifinals of the World Cup.
