After each matchday of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Sportsnet.ca’s World Cup Daily blog will recap the day’s events and look ahead to the next day’s slate of games.
Here’s what happened on Monday in Qatar, in case you missed it…
THE RESULTS
Japan 1, Croatia 1 (Croatia wins 3-1 in shootout) in Al Wakrah: Match report || Match stats
Brazil 4, South Korea 1 in Doha: Match report || Match stats
Quarter-finals matchup: Croatia vs. Brazil in Al Rayyan (Dec. 9 at 10:00 a.m. ET)
MAIN TALKING POINTS
Brazil dances into the quarter-finals
Brazil’s players danced early and they danced often. Four times after each goal, to be exact, with each celebration routine featuring more elaborate choreography than its predecessor. A beach party broke out on the immaculate grass pitch inside Doha’s Stadium 974 on Monday, as the Brazilians sambaed their way to a 4-1 win over South Korea.
Brazil hadn’t really broken out in Qatar up to this point. Sure, there were times when they produced moments of the joga bonito for which they have become famous. But those moments came in flashes, and were few and far between. Finally, the South Americans gave the people – not just their supporters but neutral fans around the globe – what they wanted to see: A trademark Brazilian win that highlighted the team’s best attacking qualities and ability to produce goals of the highest artistic calibre.
Save for Neymar’s penalty conversion, each goal was a masterpiece, simultaneously rhythmic and ruthless, as the South Koreans had no answer as to how to stop the Brazilian tsunami. Lucas Paquetá’s fourth goal for Brazil on the day, off a setup by the incandescent Vinícius Júnior, essentially killed off the game in the 36th minute.
Minor doubts about Brazil’s standing as the tournament favourite began to linger after a 1-0 loss to Cameroon in its group stage finale. But manager Tite fielded a “B team,” resting his top stars with a spot in the knockout round already secured. The Brazilian coach held nothing back in this game, as he made 10 changes to his starting lineup, and brought the big guns off the bench, including veteran Neymar who missed out on the last two games while nursing an ankle injury.
The result was a massacre. Brazil put forth one of the most dominant performances at the World Cup in recent memory, while sending a not-so-gentle reminder to the rest of the field that they are the team to beat as we enter the business end of this tournament in Qatar.
The joyous wonder that is Ivan Perišić
Japan looked as though it was going to continue to rip through this World Cup like a tsunami after taking a 1-0 lead in the 43rd minute on Monday. Having upset Germany and Spain in the group stage, the Japanese had their sights set on adding Croatia to their list of victims. But Ivan Perišić had other ideas, netting the equalizer early in the second half to get his country back into the game. The Croatians eventually emerged victorious via a penalty shootout after a tedious 120 minutes of regulation and extra time, thanks in no small part to Perišić’s moment of inspiration.
With Croatia in desperate need of an equalizer, Dejan Lovren hit a hopeful cross from the right wing into Japan’s penalty area for Perišić. The Croatian winger was a good 14 yards out from goal, but he somehow generated enough power with his header that it nestled inside the far bottom corner of the net past sprawling Japanese goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda.
Perišić has now scored more goals for Croatia’s men’s team at World Cups and European Championships than any other Croatia player (10). Incredibly, the Tottenham star has been involved in 10 goals in 14 World Cup matches (six goals and four assists) since making his tournament debut in 2014. To put those numbers into context, only Lionel Messi (eight goals and four assists) and Kylian Mbappé (nine goals and two assists) have been more productive at the tournament during the same time span.
GOAL OF THE DAY
A sumptuous attacking sequence by Brazil began with Richarlison juggling the ball with his head while being surrounded by three South Korean players and ended with the Tottenham forward slotting home off a tic-tac-toe passing play from eight yards out.
MOMENT OF THE DAY
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It’s more an instinct than an analysis of the penalty takers … I don’t think that these penalties were too difficult to defend, [but] they shoot very hard.” – Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livaković on his three saves in the penalty shootout vs. Japan.
SIX PACK OF STATS
• Ivan Perišić is now tied with Davor Šuker as Croatia’s all-time leading scorer at the World Cup (six goals).
• Croatia’s Dominik Livakovic is the third goalkeeper to make three saves in a single penalty shootout at the men’s World Cup after Portugal’s Ricardo in 2006 (vs. England) and countryman Danijel Subasic in 2018 (vs. Denmark).
• Each of the last six penalty shootouts at the men’s World Cup have been won by the side shooting second.
• Neymar is the third Brazilian male player to score in three different editions of the World Cup, alongside Ronaldo and Pelé.
• This is just the second time Brazil’s men’s team has scored four goals in the opening half of a World Cup match since a 5-0 win over Mexico in 1954.
• Thiago Silva (38 years and 74 days) is the oldest men’s player to record an assist at the World Cup since Roger Milla for Cameroon in 1990 (38 years and 42 days).
Stats courtesy of Opta
THREE STARS OF THE DAY
1) Vinícius Júnior (Brazil): The Real Madrid star opened the scoring with his first goal of the tournament and then tallied an assist on Brazil’s fourth goal of the day before halftime to cap on an emphatic win over South Korea.
2) Dominik Livaković (Croatia): The veteran goalkeeper came up huge in the penalty shootout, making three saves on Japan to send his team through to the quarter-finals.
3) Neymar (Brazil): After missing the last two group stage games with an ankle injury, the PSG man bagged his first goal of this World Cup by converting from the penalty spot and tallied an assist.
LOOKING AHEAD TO TUESDAY
The round of 16 wraps up tomorrow with two marquee matchups, starting with Morocco taking on Spain (10:00 a.m. ET). Morocco was one of the surprise packages of the first round as it won its group ahead of Belgium and Croatia, but a round-of-16 showdown with Spain represents its toughest challenge to date in Qatar. The late game sees Portugal take on Switzerland (2:00 p.m. ET). The Swiss aren’t exactly flashy, but they find ways to grind out results, while Bruno Fernandes has been Portugal’s best player and among the best midfielders at this World Cup with a pair of goals.
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John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 20 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. TFC Republic can be found here.
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