Louise Taylor was at Stadium 974. Her report has landed. Here it is! Thanks for reading this MBM.
… so did Brazil play like potential World Cup winners? Well, no. But also yes. No because they were pretty stodgy for the most part, until flinging the kitchen sink (as well as all the attackers on their bench) at Switzerland in desperation towards the end. Yes because while they weren’t anywhere near their best, they still scored a fine winner through Casemiro, and were an offside decision away from another lovely goal for Vinicius Jr. And it’s a hoary old trope for a reason: getting results when you’re not on top form is what champions do. Accordingly, they celebrate with their fans, while Switzerland – who fought hard but lacked a cutting edge – traipse off in disappointment. They’ll need to beat Serbia next week to guarantee qualification for the last 16.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | Cameroon | 2 | -1 | 1 |
| 4 | Serbia | 2 | -2 | 1 |
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FULL TIME: Brazil 1-0 Switzerland
The whistle goes, and Brazil qualify for the knockout stage with a game to spare!
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90 min +5: Brazil are running down the clock deep in Swiss territory.
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90 min +4: Rodrygo doesn’t take it to heart, and tees up Vinicius Jr on the edge of the Swiss box. Vinicius goes for the bottom left, but Akanji extends a leg to brilliantly block.
90 min +3: Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo launch a two-on-one counter. They should combine to score, but Vinicius Jr goes for goal when it would have been more sensible to roll across and tee up Rodrygo for a tap-in.
90 min +2: A curious lack of urgency from Switzerland. Ironically, the clock is not their friend right now.
90 min: There will be six minutes of additional time.
89 min: Xhaka loses concentration and the ball out on the Brazil right. His Arsenal team-mate then wins a free kick. Xhaka has the good grace to walk away wearing a wry smile.
87 min: Brazil want a second. Antony nearly gets the better of Rodriguez down the right; then Rodrygo hits a rising pearler goalwards from the left-hand corner of the box. Sommer tips away.
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86 min: Switzerland replace Widmer with Frei, while Brazil replace Sandro with Telles.
84 min: Casemiro’s shot may have taken a light flick off Akanji’s backside, but it looked as though the ball was flying in anyway. It didn’t divert off its flight path much at all.
GOAL! Brazil 1-0 Switzerland (Casemiro 83)
Brazil had been knocking at the door, and now it swings open. And this one will count! Vinicius Jr rolls a cute pass down the inside-left channel. Casemiro, just inside the box, swivels and hits a first-time riser towards the top right. Sommer, feet planted, had no chance! That whistled into the corner!
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81 min: Casemiro shapes to shoot from 25 yards. The ball’s deflected out for a corner on the right. Antony loops it in. Sommer punches clear, though not particularly convincingly. Guimaraes returns the ball immediately, but there’s little power in his header and Sommer can claim this time.
79 min: Antony takes it himself and curls towards the near post. Easy for Sommer. Brazil wasting a couple of good set-piece opportunities in short order.
78 min: Antony skedaddles down the right wing and is shoved out of play by Rodriguez. Free kick. Antony wants a booking and waves the imaginary card, which the referee ignores.
76 min: Rodrygo doesn’t stick the free kick into the mixer. He sticks it over the mixer. The ball sails harmlessly out for a goal kick, wasting everyone in the crowded box’s time.
75 min: Rodrygo is skittled over by Widmar near the touchline on the left flank. Before the free kick can be taken, Switzerland make two changes, replacing Embolo and Sow with Aebischer and Seferovic.
73 min: Two more changes for Brazil. Richarlison and Raphinha make way for Gabriel Jesus and Antony.
72 min: Casemiro slides a ball down the inside-right channel for Richarlison, who can’t quite spin Elvedi on the edge of the box. Sommer hacks clear.
70 min: Brazil are trying not to let that deflating experience sour their mood. They come back again at the Swiss, Vinicius tearing down the left and drawing a foul from Akanji, just outside the box. Nothing comes of the free kick, but Brazil are on top all of a sudden.
68 min: Ah, here we go. Richarlison had indeed wandered back from an offside position, getting involved with Embolo as the ball was shifted to Casemiro. The correct decision, but such a shame a goal that was so easy on the eye has been ruled out.
66 min: Well that’s disappointing. Richarlison came back from an offside position earlier in the move, though the folk in charge of the telly box haven’t deigned to show a replay of what went wrong.
NO GOAL! Brazil 0-0 Switzerland
Imperceptible offside earlier in the move!
GOAL! Brazil 1-0 Switzerland (Vinicius Jr 64)
… but after all that huff and puff, they suddenly blow Switzerland’s house down! Three Swiss midfielders miss a ball rolling through the centre circle. Rodrygo steals in and lays off to Casemiro, who immediately releases Vinicius Jr down the left. He’s clear! Widmer comes sliding in, but can’t stop the young Brazilian, who takes a touch to enter the box before steering cutely across Sommer and into the bottom right!
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62 min: Brazil are doing a lot of huffing and puffing, and aren’t achieving very much. On that subject, here’s Ian Burch on that 1974 side: “Although Rivelino and Jairzinho were still knocking about, the team bore no relation to their predecessors of 1970. It was a team fully committed to getting their retaliation in first as they set about Scotland from the off in the group stage. They obviously knew nothing about Scotland’s team as they stirred up a hornets nest by singling out of all people Joe Jordan and Billy Bremner for special treatment. In their semi final match against the Dutch there were running battles on and off the ball from beginning to end, not quite Chelsea v Leeds 1970, but just as entertaining.” Ah, the 1970 FA Cup final replay!
60 min: Fernandes has the ball at his feet on the edge of the Brazil D. He should slip Embolo clear to the left, but lays off to Sow, who can’t get anything meaningful away. Some poor decision-making there, with Brazil light at the back.
59 min: … and then Switzerland swap out Vargas and Rieder for Steffen and Fernandes.
58 min: Brazil replace Fred with Bruno Guimaraes …
57 min: … so having said that, Vinicius Jr curls a lovely cross in from the left. The ball flies down the corridor of uncertainty, and is nearly converted at the far post, but Richarlison’s studs aren’t long enough. Missed by inches!
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56 min: Brazil are a little bit rattled. Alisson faffs about with the ball at his feet and is closed down by Embolo. Alisson is fortunate that his kick rebounds off Embolo away from danger, and not back into the unguarded goal.
55 min: Vargas drops a shoulder to cut in from the left and has a dig. His shot is deflected out for a corner, from which nothing comes. But this is much better from the Swiss, who are beginning to bare some teeth.
53 min: Xhaka sends Rieder into acres of space down the right. He enters the box and crosses low for Reider, who can’t force home at the near post. The ball breaks to Sow who has a try. Vinicius Jr slides in to block. The closest Switzerland have come.
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52 min: Fred miscontrols and cynically clips Sow, making off with the ball, to the floor. He joins Rieder in the book.
50 min: Rieder tries to block Rodrygo legally as he tricks his way down the left. But he only manages to stop his man by shouldering him in the face. Into the book he goes. Meanwhile here’s Mac Millings: “I don’t know about anyone else, but PENNANT WATCH!!! is popular with me, and I demand more of it. So much so, that I am here to help, with the latest installment: PENNANT WATCH!!!: Jermaine Pennant Edition!!! Jermaine Pennant thinks Arsenal won’t win the league, and Liverpool will finish 3rd.” Somebody had to do it, so it might as well have been Millings.
48 min: Militao shoves Vargas in the back in the playground style. Both hands placed on at speed. It’s been a quiet start to the half.
46 min: Vinicius Jr scrambles down the left and looks to have the beating of Widmer, but the flag pings up for offside.
Brazil get the second half underway. They’ve made an attacking substitution, replacing Lucas Paqueta with Rodrygo. “I watched the 1970 Brazil team as an 11 year old, spellbound,” begins Neil Jones. “Couldn’t wait to see them again in 74. There were Rivelino and Jairzinho, lost in a mob of European-aping enforcers. My disillusionment was capped by the scything Luis Pereira red card assault on the flying Neeskens, perhaps the only thing I remember of that team.”
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HALF TIME: Brazil 0-0 Switzerland
Well that was … distinctly average. The Swiss will be a little happier, I guess.
45 min +1: Embolo dribbles down the left and wins a corner. It’s flicked on by Akanji, but to little effect. Brazil clear.
45 min: There will be one added minute. Old school.
44 min: One corner leads to another, and there’s a quick game of pinball as Sommer punches an inswinger off his line back into a crowded box. But eventually the ball sails out for a goal kick.
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43 min: Raphinha dribbles hard at Rodriguez down the right. He nearly finds Richarlison at the near post with a fiercely whipped cross, but Elvedi steps in to head out for a corner.
41 min: A long ball down the Brazil left. A footrace between Akanji and Richarlison. The former wins. “Adding Richarlison to the Xhaka powderkeg seems like a perfect recipe for some later shenanigans,” writes Joe Pearson. “I just love using the word shenanigans.” And we love you using it. A word that registers 9.2 on our patented Brouhaha-o-meter™.
39 min: Rodriguez powers down the left and whistles in a low cross. Vargas has his back to goal on the edge of the six-yard box, but traps and spins beautifully. However, before he can shoot, Thiago Silva gets in the road and ushers the ball back to Alisson. Lovely skill, though.
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38 min: Militao has a whack from distance. The shot isn’t all that, but it’s deflected out for a corner. Brazil play it short, working room for Raphinha, who dinks a cross into the six-yard box. Sommer claims easily.
36 min: Paqueta momentarily falls asleep on the halfway line with the ball at his feet. Freuler nearly makes off with it. Sandro steps in to recover the situation. Kind of sums Brazil up so far.
34 min: Vinicius Jr races after a long pass down the left. Switzerland are caught napping a bit, but the Real Madrid striker has gone too early and the flag goes up for offside. A bit more patience there, and the Swiss were in a whole world of trouble.
33 min: Brazil are currently registering 7.5 on our patented Missing Neymar-o-meter™. They’re not doing a great deal.
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31 min: Raphinha cuts in from the right and sends a long-range belter straight down Sommer’s throat. He hit that with some force, but the keeper didn’t have to move.
29 min: Vargas and Raphinha come together in the midfield, a garden-variety set-to. Raphinha moans a bit. Xhaka arrives to turn up the heat. It all cools down again fairly quickly, but there’s the Xhaka we all know and love, trying to start a fight in an empty room. Marvellous.
28 min: Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
27 min: Raphinha swings a cross in from a deep position on the right. He finds Vinicius Jr, racing in from the left, in space vacated by Widmer. Vinicius doesn’t connect properly, sidefooting the ball weakly towards the bottom right, but Sommer is still required to palm around the post.
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26 min: Freuler channels his inner Garrincha and dribbles infield from the right. He keeps on going, and keeps on going, all the way into the box, but eventually tries to take on one man too many in Marquinhos. He had a brief opportunity to shoot just before being stopped in his tracks.
24 min: Rodriguez strides down the left and slips a pass infield for Sow, who is within his rights to take a shot from distance but instead tries to release a team-mate into the box with a threaded pass down the channel. Brazil slam the door shut. If you don’t buy a ticket, etc.
22 min: Rodriguez plays a backpass blind and nearly tees up Richarlison. He’s fortunate that Sommer was on his toes and gets to the ball first, slamming clear. “I demand that you continue to provide pictures of pennants,” begins José Antonio Vildósola Santibañez. “There you go, demand. As for that Austria-Switzerland game, I was wondering what the daily record for most goals is. If today’s average keeps up we’ll end up with 22, though I think Uruguay and Portugal will conspire to stop it from happening.”
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21 min: Vargas chases a pass down the inside-right channel and enters the Brazil box. He spins and crosses instinctively, but Embolo hasn’t kept up with play and it’s a doddle for Brazil to tidy up.
19 min: A little bit of space suddenly for Paqueta on the left. He fires in a low cross. Richarlison isn’t far away from making contact at the near post, but misses with his slide and Elvedi, directly behind him, clears.
18 min: Brazil have had 46 percent possession so far; the Swiss 45; and nine to the enigmatic In Contest. It’s like that right now.
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16 min: The free kick turns out to be an over-elaborate waste of time. Switzerland should have stuck it in the mixer. Speaking of Brazil doing the same, here’s Kári Tulinius: “It’s always best to describe Brazil like any other team. I remember the cognitive dissonance of being a young football fan in ‘94 hearing that Brazil were the home of the beautiful game, while Dunga, Leonardo et al scythed their way through opposing players like farmers hate-harvesting their crops.”
15 min: … but that’s not going to knock Switzerland’s confidence. And why would it? They’ve won four of their last five matches, beating Portugal and Spain along the way. Embolo sashays down the middle and is brought down clumsily by Casemiro. Free kick, 30 yards out in a central position.
13 min: Richarlison blazes down the inside-right channel again, this time chasing a Fred pass. He can’t control at high speed and trundles the ball out for a goal kick. After a quiet few minutes, Brazil have suddenly turned up the pace.
12 min: Paqueta flicks a clever ball around the corner and down the inside-right channel. Richarlison tears into the box and cuts back for Vinicius Jr, but doesn’t find his man. Switzerland clear.
10 min: Brazil are seeing more of the ball, but Switzerland have started confidently too. Widmer strides down the right but there’s nobody in the middle and he turns tail. “Looking at Brazil’s pennant, I’m reminded of Alexi Lalas’ beard,” writes Jeff K. “The dimensions of the pendant are also remarkably similar to the big American’s dial.”
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8 min: Vinicius Jr traps a ball dropping from the sky, spins and sprints away down the left in one elegant movement. What skill! But the ball’s adjudged to have sailed out of play at one point, and Vinicius’s gallop is brought to a halt.
6 min: Sow, in fine fettle, races down the left and forces Thiago Silva into the concession of a cheap corner. Vargas’s delivery is no good, and the self-inflicted danger to Brazil is over.
5 min: Casemiro accidentally boots Sow up the hole. A proper comic-book toe-punt in the trousers. To be fair to the Brazilian midfielder, he didn’t know his man was there. It was more of a waft than a full-on punt and there’s no damage done.
3 min: Vinicius Jr makes his way down the left touchline and is barrelled over by Widmer. Another free kick, but this one is much further upfield, and Brazil will be sticking this one into the mixer. Brazil stick things into the mixer, right? Casemiro swings it in. Richarlison tries to connect, six yards out, but can’t manage it and the ball sails out for a Swiss throw on the other side.
2 min: The continuation of a nice, slow, patient start.
Switzerland get the ball rolling. They soon ship possession and Vinicius Junior runs at their back line. He’s knocked over, and from the free kick, Brazil opt to give their defenders a feel of the ball, pinging it around the back awhile.
The teams are out! Brazil in their famous post-Maracanaço yellow, Switzerland in equally vivid red. The anticipation crackles around Stadium 974. And no wonder: there have already been 11 goals scored in today’s first two matches, so here’s to another festival of net-ripping entertainment. And why not? Brazil have scored more goals than any other team in World Cup history (231) while Switzerland were involved in the highest-scoring match at a tournament, a 7-5 quarter-final defeat to Austria at their own World Cup in 1954. That Swiss team’s defensive plan was known as The Bolt, as well. Another 12-goal thriller, then? Yes please! Yes please!
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Earlier today in Group G, Cameroon and Serbia shared six goals in a mini-classic. Jonathan Wilson was at Al Janoub Stadium to see that one go this way then the other. As a result, should either Brazil or Switzerland win this afternoon, they’ll qualify for the last 16 with a game to spare, and will have one hand and at least a couple of fingers wrapped around the prize of a first-place finish. Here’s what the table looks like now.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Cameroon | 2 | -1 | 1 |
| 4 | Serbia | 2 | -2 | 1 |
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Back by popular demand* … our occasional big-match series PENNANT WATCH!!! Thiago Silva will hand over a classy trinket befitting five-time champions of the world. Look at all those lovely golden tassels, flowing like a lion’s mane in the breeze.
However the Swiss effort, if we can call it that, gives off serious will-this-do vibes. To be fair the federation logo has a certain mid-80s charm, but that’s about it.
* Series has neither been demanded nor is popular
Switzerland are at the ground, all safe and sound, though it was a hairy ride. The driver of the team bus lost concentration in a traffic queue and pranged the car in front. The car behind then rammed the bus. It all happened in super slow-motion, so thankfully nobody was hurt, but that’s a yellow card for the driver, who also loses his no-claims bonus.
Neymar and Danilo, both out with ankle injuries, are replaced by Fred and Eder Militao in the Brazil starting XI. Fred joins his Manchester United team-mate Casemiro in the middle, with Lucas Paqueta pushed further forward. Calls to use Rodrygo from the get-go have been resisted. Militao will replace Danilo at right back.
Switzerland make one change to the team that started the 1-0 win over Cameroon. Fabian Rieder replaces erstwhile Stoke and Liverpool powercube Xherdan Shaqiri.
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The teams
Brazil: Alisson, Eder Militao, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Alex Sandro, Lucas Paqueta, Casemiro, Fred, Raphinha, Richarlison, Vinicius Junior.
Subs: Weverton, Dani Alves, Fabinho, Alex Telles, Bruno Guimaraes, Gabriel Jesus, Antony, Rodrygo, Everton Ribeiro, Ederson, Bremer, Pedro, Martinelli.
Switzerland: Sommer, Widmer, Akanji, Elvedi, Rodriguez, Freuler, Xhaka, Vargas, Sow, Rieder, Embolo.
Subs: Fernandes, Zakaria, Seferovic, Steffen, Omlin, Aebischer, Fassnacht, Comert, Frei, Kobel, Schar, Shaqiri, Kohn, Jashari.
Referee: Iván Barton (El Salvador).
Preamble
Brazil came to the party late last week and did some Brazil stuff. They’ll be taking nothing for granted today, though. Partly because the talismanic Neymar is missing with an ankle injury, but mainly because Brazil have met Switzerland on two previous occasions at the World Cup, and have yet to register a win. They drew 1-1 four years ago in Russia, and 2-2 back in 1950, a match referenced somewhere in this …
… so it wouldn’t be too much of a shock if the Swiss, coming off the back of a 1-0 win over Cameroon, get something today. The bicycle-kicking Richarlison may have something to say about that, having scored nine in his last seven appearances for Brazil, but then Breel Embolo has three in his last four games for Switzerland, so this could be good fun. Kick off is at 4pm GMT, 7pm at the magnificently titled Stadium 974 in Ras Abu Aboud, Doha. انه يحدث! It’s on!
