Brazil hoping to dance past Croatia into World Cup semis

08.12.2022 - 09:33 arabnews.com

DOHA: Brazil head into Friday’s World Cup quarterfinal against Croatia brimming with confidence after Neymar’s return inspired a performance laced with swagger and arrogance in the last 16.

Their eye-catching 4-1 victory against South Korea, which featured goals by Vinicius Junior, Richarlison and Lucas Paqueta as well as a Neymar penalty, sent out an ominous message to their rivals in Qatar.

The football, for 45 minutes at least, was free-flowing and full of joy, the players celebrating their goals by showing off their dance moves and even getting Tite, their 61-year-old coach, to join in.

So thrilling were the Selecao at Doha’s Stadium 974 that their performance drew comparisons in some quarters with the very best and most entertaining Brazil sides, from the 1970 team of Pele to the 1982 vintage led by Socrates.

cup Carlo Ancelotti Lucas Paquetá Argentina Russia Qatar Germany Belgium Croatia Netherlands Brazil Doha Cameroon New York South Korea

LONDON: FIFA said on Friday that the results of the World Cup Qatar 2022 might impact some of the nominees for the Best FIFA Football Awards in February, with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe in contention for the Best FIFA Men’s Player award.

Newcastle fans can help Bruno Guimaraes put World Cup disappointment behind him, says Eddie Howe

NEWCASTLE: Newcastle United star man Bruno Guimaraes could use some love from Geordie fans as he returns to club duty following his disappointment with Brazil at the World Cup, according to head coach Eddie Howe.

World Cup hits and misses

DOHA: Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe have dazzled at the World Cup in Qatar, while Morocco caught the imagination of a continent on their run to the semifinals. But the host nation flopped badly, Germany made a swift exit and Cristiano Ronaldo discovered he was no longer an automatic pick for Portugal. AFP Sport looks at the hits and misses from a month-long festival of football. Overachievers Morocco became the first African side and the first Arab team to reach the semifinals of a World Cup. And it was no fluke. Walid Regragui’s men, ranked 22nd in the world, beat Belgium and drew with Croatia on the way to topping their group before dumping 2010 champions Spain and Portugal out of the tournament. Roared on by tens of thousands of fans and supported across Africa and the Arab world, they came up short in the semifinals, losing 2-0 to France, but they have broken new ground. Japan shocked Germany and Spain to top their group before losing on penalties to Croatia in the round of 16. South Korea underlined the progress Asian football is making by beating Portugal to qualify from their group but came unstuck against Brazil in the first knockout round.

Neymar ‘psychologically destroyed’ by World Cup exit

DOHA: Neymar said Saturday he was “psychologically destroyed” by Brazil’s elimination from the World Cup in a penalty shootout defeat to Croatia and admitted it hurt more than any other loss in his career. The 30-year-old scored a superb individual effort to equal Pele’s record goalscoring haul of 77 goals for the Selecao in Friday’s match that finished 1-1 after extra time. But he never got to take a spot kick in the shootout that Croatia won 4-2 to move into the semifinals.

Giroud takes France into World Cup semis as Kane penalty miss costs England

AL KHOR, Qatar: Olivier Giroud scored the winner and Harry Kane missed a late penalty as holders France beat England 2-1 in a tense World Cup quarter-final on Saturday. Aurelien Tchouameni had swept France into a first-half lead only for Kane to equalize from the spot nine minutes into the second half.

Shootout masters Croatia stun Brazil to reach World Cup semi-finals

DOHA: Croatia stunned favourites Brazil to reach the World Cup semi-finals on Friday (Dec 9), winning 4-2 on penalties after a nailbiting last-eight tie finished 1-1 at the end of extra time.