Brazil’s young forward line was facing a big question this Copa America: how would they fare against alert opponents who defend deeply and do not give them space to launch counter-attacks?
March got off to a great start under coach Dorival Junior with a win against England and a thrilling 3–3 draw with Spain. But these were highly unusual in most of the matches Brazil played – and were particularly different from Dorival’s competitive debut against Costa Rica. England and Spain progressed in front of their own fans. Brazil can sit back and choose when to move on. Obviously that wasn’t going to happen against Costa Rica.
Argentine coach Gustavo Alfaro is an excellent organizer of the defensive unit. Their Costa Rica were clearly going to take some chances, and they had confidence in an important ally – the size of the Inglewood pitch.
The playing surfaces used in this Copa are smaller than those in normal FIFA tournaments. This topic has become something of a Brazilian obsession in the preparation for the tournament, as their clear conclusion is that the smaller the pitch, the more difficult it will be for them to play against their opponent.
Brazil were stuck in a personal nightmare in the match against Costa Rica. They were expected to easily defeat their CONCACAF rivals. Opportunities came and went. There were penal appeals. Marquinhos had the ball in the net, but the goal was ruled out for a narrow offside. Up in the stands, Neymar watched in increasing frustration as chances were spurned. Some of that disappointment was felt on the field. Brazil was sometimes irritable, sometimes agitated. For example, there was a lack of that calm quality with which, earlier in the day, James Rodriguez had scored the opening goal for Colombia against Paraguay.
This time even the introduction of teenage supersub Andrique could not save the day. And so Dorival Junior’s first competitive game in charge of Brazil ended in a disappointing 0–0 draw, and Costa Rica, who posed no threat throughout the game, celebrated wildly at the final whistle.
How much blame should be placed at Doriwal’s door?
On any other day, the same level of performance could have led to a comfortable win. But there were some problems – the most obvious being in team selection. Against such defensive opponents, did Brazil really need both Bruno Guimarães and Joao Gomes in the center of midfield?
Joao Gomes was amazing at Wembley on his international debut in March, when he attacked with tackles and kept the English at bay. Here he was perhaps superfluous. Center backs like Marquinhos and Eder Militao rarely need the level of protection he provides. It was surprising that they were only removed within the last 10 minutes, as the solution is so obvious; Move Lucas Paqueta into the central midfield role he has often played for Brazil.
Paqueta is playing his best game in front of goal, where he is best able to distribute the play. As these types of games progress, there is the added problem of Paqueta and Rodrigo competing for the same spot. Dorival Jr. can expect to be the first heavy bombardment of criticism in his time as Brazil coach, for selecting a team that was too cautious and then waiting too long for the balance to change.
However, Rodrigo was probably the brightest spark of the performance. For years, Brazil have held huge expectations for the mobile, intelligent and talented Real Madrid attacker, and he continues to find different ways to trouble Costa Rica’s defence. However, his club partnership with Vinicius Jr. was not really successful. It was a disappointing night for Vinicius, who gave way to Andrić with just 20 minutes remaining. This is his first tournament as Brazil’s senior attacker, but his one-on-one skills were not on display against the Costa Ricans, who avoided defeat by Brazil for the first time since defeating an experimental team at the Pan-American Games. Be successful. 1960.
Brazil may prefer to focus on recent events. In the 2016 Copa Centenario, Brazil demolished their CONCACAF opponents with a 7–1 win over Haiti. He got some benefit from this. They failed to score against their South American group rivals, drawing 0–0 with Ecuador and losing 1–0 to Peru. Their fate in this year’s group stage will also be defined by the results of matches against CONMEBOL teams. Later comes the dangerous Colombia. But first, Paraguay, a team whose traditional resilience proved too much for Brazil in the 2011 and 2015 Copas. Perhaps Friday’s Las Vegas venue will encourage Dorival Jr. to gamble on a less cautious line up.
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