It was amusing that, after full-time in a narrow World Cup win over Switzerland, Casemiro described himself as a firefighter, since it was only with the midfielder’s 83rd-minute strike that a controlled but labouring Brazil performance caught alight.
“It is very clear that my very first objective is to support the team, to put out fires wherever they may be,” said Casemiro, who was quickly described on Twitter as the best midfielder in the world by injured team-mate Neymar. “But, nevertheless, if there is an opportunity to take a little shot on goal, I think that’s very important.”
Vital, in fact, as the 30-year-old’s brilliant effort from Rodrygo’s fine flick earned a 1-0 victory that saw Brazil become the second side, after France, to book their place in the last 16, that pair joined by Portugal before the close of the day.
After the vibrant victory over Serbia that had announced Brazil’s arrival at this tournament in the shimmering soapdish that is Lusail Stadium four days earlier, this was less glamorous and more businesslike from Tite’s side at a ground built out of shipping containers.
Without the line-breaking talents of Neymar, the Selecao were frustrated by the well-drilled Swiss, for whom Manchester City’s Manuel Akanji was superb.
Vinicius Jr missed one of few clear-cut chances in the first half, then had a would-be opener ruled out by the VAR for an offside in the second, as the five-times champions looked set to follow the vogue of second-game reality checks set by England, Spain, Japan and the Netherlands.
A point would have been no disaster, but that they found a way to win — without Neymar — was a feather in the cap of the favourites at a tournament where, save France, no side has yet put together successive convincing performances.
Consistency has been hard to come by — Iran and Costa Rica did not even commit to being consistently bad — and ahead of the final round of group-stage fixtures at this World Cup starting this afternoon, 27 of the 32 teams were as yet unsure of their fate.
France have so far set the standard, thrashing Australia and beating a well-fancied Denmark , with Kylian Mbappe in full flight, while Brazil and Spain do not look too far behind.
How things pan out from here, though, will be intriguing.
On the one hand, this is a World Cup littered with tight turnarounds and little time to make up ground. On the other, there ought to be substantial room to grow into a tournament that most teams have approached from a unique standing start — so long as they are not knocked out first.
Arriving so swiftly after the pausing of the European club season, these group matches have, in some ways, felt like warm-up games within the tournament itself; certainly not with regards to excitement or intensity, but in terms of the fact-finding and identity-hunting still going on among the supposed leading contenders.
Germany, for instance, remain unsettled on the make-up and structure of their defensive, midfield and forward lines, while England flipped to a back-four to start the tournament but might not stick with it for long.
Argentina, after losing for the first time in 37 matches, made a drastic five changes to their side for the second game, while even France, themselves, set on their plans arriving in Qatar, have had to adjust to yet more injuries in the fortnight since.
The Netherlands and Belgium claim to know their best teams, but are yet to field them, operating with place-holders for undercooked star forwards, and Brazil are contingency planning on the hop for what they hope will prove only a brief period without Neymar.
Only Spain and, perhaps, Portugal would, you sense, be set on their best XI for a first knockout game were it to be played tomorrow.
