Brazil's Neymar, Gabriel Jesus kept down by Switzerland in opening draw - 7M sport

Brazil's Neymar, Gabriel Jesus kept down by Switzerland in opening draw



Posted Monday, June 18, 2018 by ESPN

Brazil's Neymar, Gabriel Jesus kept down by Switzerland in opening draw
Neymar tried a lot but not much came off for the Brazilian star against Switzerland.
Photo by Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images

Brazil disappointed the torcedores (fans) who filled the Rostov Arena with a 1-1 draw against Switzerland in their opening World Cup match Sunday.

Tite's team had a great first half but were not able to keep up their tempo, suffered from an early second-half equalizer and took too long to react.

Positives

Brazil understood what Switzerland were up to right from the start, put some early pressure on and were rewarded with an early opener from Philippe Coutinho. If they had attacked a little more, they could have opened a bigger lead. The goal scorer and Thiago Silva were the best individual performers.

Negatives

Brazil lost that attitude as they came back out of the dressing rooms and it proved to be a costly mistake, with Switzerland scoring their equalizer from a corner kick after Joao Miranda and Casemiro lost their men in the box. The latter never recovered and had to be replaced. There is also lots of room for improvement from Gabriel Jesus: he needs to open his eyes and find more of his teammates when they get into dangerous areas.

Manager rating out of 10

5 -- The end result means Tite will have some doubts for the next couple of games. After an outstanding first half, his team started the second in a completely different mood and took a long time to regain control. By the time they did so, it was already tied and too late.

Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)

GK Alisson, 5 -- Could have done a better job with the corner kick that Steven Zuber headed home from within the inner box.

DF Danilo, 6 -- Good job in defence, no contribution in attack.

DF Thiago Silva, 7 -- Very good game for the PSG defender; made no mistakes and he never lost his one-on-one duels.

DF Miranda, 5 -- Despite that little push from Zuber, he was responsible for not taking care of his man properly.

DF Marcelo, 5 -- Always an interesting option to launch attacks, but had some trouble with Xherdan Shaqiri in the second half.

MF Casemiro, 5 -- Completed a good first half but disappeared in the second. He was replaced.

MF Philippe Coutinho, 7 -- Scored a great goal and was difficult to stop in the first half, but saw less action in the second.

MF Paulinho, 5 -- He missed an incredible chance early on and participated less than usual.

FW Willian, 5 -- Was an interesting offensive option, but Brazil chose to launch more attacks down the left flank, so he was rarely deployed.

FW Neymar, 5 -- Closely marked wherever he went, he carried the ball too much. His best moves came when he tried quick combinations with his teammates.

FW Gabriel Jesus, 5 -- Made some questionable choices in the first half. When his decisions improved in the second, he was substituted.

Substitutes

MF Fernandinho, 5 -- Came in for the final half-hour and was a good choice to move forward when Brazil realized they needed to regain control.

MF Renato Augusto, 6 -- He revived a Brazilian midfield that had lost the initiative; almost scored the winner, but his shot was cleared off the line.

FW Roberto Firmino, NR -- He was smart to spot the open spaces, even when Switzerland packed the box, and moved into them to generate two clear chances.



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