Neymar, Brazil blow past South Korea into quarters

It was the same old Neymar out there, looking fit and scoring a goal to move closer to Pelé’s all-time record and lead Brazil into the World Cup quarterfinals.

Neymar returned from injury and converted a first-half penalty in Brazil’s 4-1 win over South Korea in the round of 16 on Monday. He reached 76 goals with the national team, one shy of the mark set by Pelé, who said he would watch the match from his hospital bed in Sao Paulo.

“I was very scared,” Neymar said. “It was very difficult after getting injured like I did. I was crying the entire night. My family knows what I had to go through. But in the end it all worked out. It was worth the effort to keep undergoing physiotherapy.”

The 82-year-old Pelé is recovering from a respiratory infection that was aggravated by COVID-19, leaving fans in Brazil and in Qatar worried about his condition. Neymar carried a banner with the soccer great’s image and “Pelé” written on it after the match, and the entire team then posed behind it near midfield.

“It’s tough to talk about Pelé with what he is going through,” Neymar said. “We wish he can get well soon. We hope we made him feel a bit more comfortable with the banner and with the victory.”

South Korea was trying to advance past the round of 16 for the first time since its historic run to the semifinals as a co-host in 2002.

Neymar damaged ligaments in his right ankle in the team’s opening match against Serbia and at the time there were doubts if he would play again at the World Cup. He was clearly back, and there were no signs of the injury as he led Brazil to a comfortable victory and a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals for the eighth straight time.

Vinícius Júnior scored the first goal from inside the area after a cross by Raphinha in the seventh minute, Richarlison added to the lead from close range after a nice exchange of passes by the Brazilians in the 29th, and Lucas Paquetá scored the fourth before halftime after an assist by Vinícius Júnior.

They celebrated each goal by dancing, and even Brazil coach Tite participated in Richarlison’s “pigeon” celebration.

Paik Seung-ho scored South Korea’s goal in the 76th minute.

Croatia beats Japan on PKs

Croatia is going deep at another World Cup, and the team is taking the long route once again.

Goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic saved three penalty kicks in Croatia’s 3-1 win over Japan in a shootout, securing a return to the quarterfinals for the runnerup in the 2018 tournament. The match was tied at 1-1 after extra time.

On its surprising run to the final four years ago, Croatia needed extra time in each round in the knockout stage — and twice came through a penalty shootout.

“History keeps repeating itself,” Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said with a smile.

Livakovic was the backup goalkeeper to Danijel Subasic in 2018 but took center stage this time, diving to his left to keep out Japan’s first penalty by Takumi Minamino, to his right to block Kaoru Mitoma’s effort from the second penalty, and then again to his right to deny Maya Yoshida off the fourth.

That gave Mario Pasalic the chance to put away the clinching penalty. The substitute joined the rest of Croatia’s jubilant players in heading right for Livakovic after hitting the back of the net.

“In Croatia, we do things this way,” Livakovic said. “I continued the tradition.”