Brazil Cruises Past Uruguay In World Cup Qualifiers
Brazil put on another eye-catching performance after beating Uruguay 4-1 in their Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifier at the Arena da Amazonia in Brazil.
The hosts started with Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus in attack, supported by PSG’s Neymar and Leeds United’s Raphinha on both flanks. Uruguay had the threat of Manchester United’s Edinson Cavani and Atletico Madrid’s Luis Suarez against Brazil’s defence.
Brazil took the lead after 10 minutes when Neymar chested down a pass from Fred and rounded the keeper before firing low between two defenders on the goal-line.
Raphinha made the scores 2-0 after 18 minutes when he bundled home a parried shot from close range. After a few chances, the scores remained 2-0 as the referee blew the whistle for halftime.
Early into the second half, Uruguayan goalkeeper Fernando Muslera did well to stop efforts from Neymar and Raphinha in quick succession. However, he was beaten moments later.
Raphinha extended Brazil’s lead in the 58th minute as he completed a superb counterattack with an angled shot.
Brazil were dominant as Uruguay struggled to cope with the dynamic forward line. Muslera was troubled regularly by the Brazilians, making a succession of strong stops to keep the margin at least manageable.
However, Luis Suarez scored a lovely goal for Uruguay with a 77th minute free kick to give the visitors a glimmer of hope.
Gabriel Barbosa restored Brazil’s three-goal cushion with a header seven minutes from time to cap off a brilliant performance from the Seleção.
Brazil are now six points clear in the South American qualifying group, ahead of second-placed Argentina who beat Peru 1-0 on Thursday. Uruguay have now won only two of their last nine qualifiers.
“This couldn’t be more memorable for me,” Raphinha said. “This is me fulfilling my childhood dream. It’s so gratifying to score. It’s going to be very difficult to forget this night.”
Chile beat Venezuela 3-0 in the other qualifier to record their second successive win. Erick Pulgar scored twice in the first half, both off Alexis Sanchez assists, and Ben Brereton made it 3-0 17 minutes from time to lift Chile onto 13 points in sixth place.
Venezuela, who have lost nine of 12 qualifiers, are bottom of the group on seven points, four adrift of Peru. The top four qualify automatically for Qatar 2022 and the fifth-placed side goes into an inter-regional playoff.
Chidi Nwoke/Reuters.
