Brazil v Croatia post match reaction

Brazil won 3-1, which on paper looks pretty good. However, despite having 60% possession and having twice as many shots on goal as Croatia they failed to impress as a team. Neymar could easily have been sent off at 0-0 for an elbow tackle. Croatia also conceded a very soft free kick when Cesar lost control of the ball in a duel with a Croat. This could easily have led to a goal. Brazil also got the softest of penalties to make it 2-1. Croatia was never ruled out of the game. Looking relatively composed in defense and definitely able when in possession!

The Brazil fullbacks darted forward as expected, leaving Luiz and Silva exposed for counter attacks. As they are very good one on one they managed to control the arising situations, but it was with the narrowest of margins. Olic and Perisic put them under a lot of pressure.

David Luiz also looks so arrogant on the ball sometimes. One can virtually smell there will be a big mistake from him at some point in the tournament. Cesar for me was a disaster. Sure he stopped a few shots, but he did not look anywhere near his best.

Going forward things looked much better for Brazil. Oscar was outstanding. Neymar scored two goals and were a constant threat. Hulk and Fred did perhaps not have the best of nights, but Fred did get that soft second half penalty at least for the home side.

Conclusion

Brazil probably deserved to win on the night. They will have to improve defensively though if they are to win the tournament. There will be other teams that can punish them more efficiently than Croatia did. For the Croat’s it will now be all putting in the same shift as they did against Brazil. If they do that they still got six points to play for and could get to the knock out stages.