China Daily Global Edition (USA)
No synchronicity for shackled Samba Boys Brazil coach Tite blames anxiety for stuttering draw against Swiss
ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia — Brazil’s stuttering performance stemmed from anxiety, coach Tite said after the Samba Boys’ 1-1 draw with Switzerland in Group E on Sunday.
The five-time champion opened the scoring in the 20th minute when Philippe Coutinho’s stunning strike went in off the far post, but Steven Zuber equalized five minutes into the second half with a powerful header.
Switzerland was well organized throughout, while Brazil was sloppy in front of goal as Neymar and his teammates lacked the guile to secure the win, becoming the latest of the tournament favorites to stumble.
Defending champion Germany lost to Mexico on Sunday while Argentina was held by Iceland and Spain drew with Portugal, with France the only one of the top teams winning despite a sub-par effort against Australia.
“Until we scored the goal there was a lot of pressure. There was a lot of anxiety, too much pressure and it translated into our way of playing, we were not precise enough,” Tite said at a post-match media conference.
“We had some good, clean situations but could have been more precise. This kind of anxiety comes from the concern of playing a first game in a World Cup; even the coach is anxious.”
Nerves or not, Brazil’s defense was too passive when Zuber barely had to jump to head a corner home in the 50th minute, although Tite’s players looked to have good reason to complain it should have been ruled out for a push on Miranda.
Tite said his players need to improve on their dead-ball defending.
“In a World Cup, about 45 percent of the goals come from set pieces,” he said.
His assistant, Cleber, rued the team’s lack of killer instinct as Brazil enjoyed possession but too often lost the ball in or near the box.
“The Swiss were more balanced than at the 2014 Word Cup, they put some pressure on us and we created chances but were not efficient,” he said.
Neymar nullified
Brazil’s opening match of the World Cup was supposed to be the game in which Neymar buried the ghosts of 2014 and bounced back from the foot surgery that kept him out for most of this year.
Instead, he was a pale shadow of the crowd-pleasing showman widely touted as the heir to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player in the world.
Neymar was carried out of the last World Cup in his homeland on a stretcher after being kneed in the back by Colombian Juan Zuniga in their quarterfinal encounter.
The injury forced him to miss the 7-1 humiliation at the hand of Germany in the semifinals but also left him more determined than ever to make his mark on soccer’s biggest stage.
Sunday’s Group E game was his first competitive start since February when he frac- tured a metatarsal and sprained his ankle in Paris Saint-Germain’s league match against Marseille.
But unlike in Brazil’s two friendlies earlier this month, when he scored goals and inspired his team to victory, Neymar looked out of sorts against the Swiss and just not up for the challenge.
“Neymar hasn’t been bad, but he’s been quiet,” Brazilian TV analyst and former World Cup striker Walter Casagrande said.
Few chances
It was not just that the 26-year-old had few chances; it was his reluctance to look for the ball deep in midfield and do what he does best, teasing and tormenting far bigger defenders and creating chances and winning fouls.
That might have something to do with one of the game’s more impressive statistics. The towering Swiss players took no prisoners, committing 19 fouls to Brazil’s 12 — 10 of which were on Neymar.
Brazil coach Tite refused to be drawn on whether the Swiss had set out to rough up Neymar, but their physical superiority was evident.
Another standout statistic was that the European side covered eight kilometers more ground than the Brazilians.
Tite must hope the malaise that affected his key player — and many of his teammates — will lift before their next game on Friday, against a mediocre Costa Rica in Saint Petersburg.
Costa Rica lost its opener 1-0 to Serbia on Sunday.
If Brazil is to win a sixth World Cup it is inconceivable it will do so with its best player in such lacklustre form.
All bets will be on Neymar producing sooner rather than later, as he has so many times for club and country.
An entire nation anxiously awaits.