Brazil Are Into The World Cup, Thanks To Neymar And Paqueta

Brazil
Brazil

Brazil beat Colombia at home to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.

They defeated them at Neo Quimica Arena in Sao Paolo on Thursday and booked their ticket to the World Cup.

They are currently the top dogs in CONMEBOL.

Brazil has been leading the South American qualifiers since the tournament started but they did give up some distance against Argentina at the top.

Colombia is currently struggling in 5th place with 16 points to their name against big teams like Chile. Reinaldo Rueda, the manager, has decided to not call up Radamel  Falcao for these games even though he is in spectacular form for Rayo Vallecano in La Liga. He might be regretting such a decision after the games this week are over.

Brazil Beat Colombia And Advance To The Finals In Qatar

Colombia wanted to keep their trust in Duvan Zapata and Luis Diaz and looked forward to an offensive game against the Selecao. Neymar is still the leader of the pack but manager Tite had decided to give Vinicius Junior an opportunity.

Neymar was being kicked out of his mind, all over the pitch but still managed to attack ferociously. 

Eventually, he found that space he was looking for during the second half of the game. ‘Tite’ decided to use Vinicius at the start of the second half, which granted the locals more depth on the left flank.

Late in the second half, Neymar eventually found Lucas Paqueta with a brilliant reactive assist that barely gave him time to think. The Lyon playmaker scored the winning goal with a shot straight to the keeper’s post and effectively granted Brazil their ticket. This result offers a breath of fresh air to Brazil right before one of the most crucial matches of the qualifiers.

They play Argentina on Tuesday at the Bicentenario Stadium without that added pressure to get their World Cup direct access. Argentina does have to keep winning in order to keep itself in second place. We will get to see another confrontation between buddies Neymar and Leo Messi. But tonight, that single Paqueta goal was more than enough.