Neymar play-acting spoils Brazil show
and PSV. But that did not stop them trying to take the game to their supposed superiors. There was an engaging puppyishness about the green-shirted side, characterised in the non-stop effort of Javier Hernandez. With Hernandez sparkling, Osorio was good to his pre-match commitment to attack.
But this Brazil side are very good defensively. It may seem counterintuitive for a team in possession of so much creative talent to top the goal-prevention charts at this World Cup. But they do. Largely because, in the centre of midfield, Paulinho and Casemiro provide an astonishingly resilient barrier.
It was summed up in the experience of Hirving Lozano, the man who had first holed German enterprise with his winning goal against the champions. He constantly zigzagged past yellow shirts. But every time he did so, another appeared in his way. And the thing about Brazil, with the skill and pace they have in that front four, with Willian quietly covering every blade of grass, when they attack it is with proper threat.
There was a lot of shadow boxing, a lot of range finding, a lot of preparing the ground before, early in the second half, the Chelsea man skidded round the Mexican defence before sliding in a perfect cross. It missed Gabriel Jesus but Neymar came piling in to scoop the ball home. It was a lovely finish, a telling reminder of his growing return to form after prolonged injury.
But then, not long after, Neymar slid into touch and ended up with the ball between his knees. And when Layun attempted to grab it to take the resulting throw-in, the Brazilian suddenly appeared to have been shot at close range and rolled and whined and wailed.
Not that Neymar’s coach was keen to suggest his player had done anything wrong. “The video evidence is there,” said Tite. “Study the video.” However, unable to get what he wanted – Layun’s expulsion – Neymar decided to do things properly. And – surprise, surprise – when he went legit he was magnificent.
Showing that anything Willian could do he could too, he flew into the area and spun a gilt-edged invitation of a cross in front of the despairing Guillermo Ochoa. Roberto Firmino, arriving unattended at the far post, scored with almost his first touch after coming on as substitute for his former Liverpool club-mate Philippe Coutinho.
From there, there was no way back for Mexico. True they huffed and puffed and left everything on the pitch, a credit to their magnificent followers, who never stopped encouraging.
But this was Brazil’s afternoon; they were ruthless, clever, offering pertinent reminder to all those looking at the other half of the draw in search of a new winner of the tournament, that the team with five stars on their chest remain the most likely. Just a shame they have a spoiled infant in their midst.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid have denied making “any kind of offer” to Paris St-germain for Neymar. A report by Television Espanola claimed that Real were preparing to surpass the £200 million fee that PSG paid Barcelona for the player last August. But Real called the report “entirely false information”.