It is never easy to beat the five-time World Champions Brazil, especially in a World Cup knockout match, and South Korea learned this the hard way as they were handed a thrashing 4-1 loss at the hands of the Yellow army in the fifth round of 16 match at the Education City Stadium. With this win, Brazil have advanced into the Quarterfinals of the FIFA 2022 World Cup.
The match was a crucial one for both teams due to obvious reasons and it was the former world champions who triumphed over the Asian giants in a rather one-sided encounter. Superstar Neymar made his return to the team after having missed the previous match due to an ankle injury. The ace striker managed to contribute to the scorecard as he converted a penalty for his team 13 minutes into the match.
Brazil completely dominated the play in the first half, scoring all their four goals within the first 36 minutes. The opening goal of the match came in the 7th minute after Raphinha sends in the cross that was marked for Neymar who failed to collect it. Vinicius received the cross and smacked it into the nets. As if this early blow was not enough, Brazil were awarded a penalty in the 13th minute after Richarlison was taken down by one of the Korean defenders inside the box. Neymar walked in to take the shot and converted it, much to the delight of his team and the fans in attendance.
In the 29th minute, Richarlison finds the net for a third Brazilian goal as he smashed the ball in after a brilliant passing play by the team. With just 30 minutes on the clock, Brazil are already 3-0 up against the Koreans. At 36 minutes, Brazil get the 4th goal of the match as opener Vinicius Jr. sends an impressive cross into the Korean box and Lucas Paqueta gracefully glide it into the nets. Brazil has made a complete mockery of South Korea’s defense as they take a mammoth 4-0 lead in the first half itself.
The second half started with Brazil getting back into the attack as Raphinha finds an early goal-scoring opportunity, but his shot gets deflected by one of the Korean defenders and is saved by the goalkeeper. A few minutes later, the Koreans tried to shift gears and get into counterattack mode. An attempt to score gets South Korea a corner opportunity in a bid for an opener. But the resultant attempt is skillfully thwarted by Alisson Becker.
With Brazil almost certain to win the match, the boys are just playing around casually with nothing to worry about as the timer crosses the 70 minute mark. 76 minutes into the match, South Korea finally managed to score its opening goal and Paik Seung-Ho fires a shot took that took a deflection and crashed into the Brazilian nets. We can’t call this a comeback while the team is already four goals down, but it’s definitely better than going back home goalless in their seemingly final match of the World Cup.
South Korea have indeed played brilliantly in this tournament to make it to the round of 16. But they were completely outclassed in this encounter with the greatest team in Football history. Apart from the solitary goal by Paik in the 76th minute, the only credit the Koreans can take is that they did well to prevent any further damage in the second half. Nonetheless, the outcome of it all is that their inspirational run in the FIFA 2022 World Cup has finally come to an end.
Brazil have always been considered one of the strongest contenders to win the World Cup, and with such a dominant display at the knockout level, the men in yellow have issued a warning to the remaining teams in this tournament. Their relentless attack and strong defensive ability mean they will take some beatings as they now look towards their upcoming quarter-final matchup with the 2018 runners-up Croatia.
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