FIFA World Cup 2018: Neymar's brilliance, Brazil's defensive display stand out in team's impressive win over Mexico

When teams like Germany, Spain, Portugal and Argentina don’t play their best football and fail to make it past the Round of 16, the question that comes to mind is what exactly are Brazil doing right in Russia? So far, they have lived up to the ‘favourites’ tag. Sure, they did not have a great start to their campaign, but they didn’t fumble either, keeping the dream of a sixth World Cup alive. If the win against Serbia in their last group game makes a point on why Brazil are favourites to win the title, the victory over Mexico on Monday did justice to the fact that Tite’s team is the best in the tournament.

Two second-half goals from Neymar and Roberto Firmino saw Brazil overcome the Mexico challenge in the Round of 16 and progress to the quarter-final, where they will face another title favourites Belgium.

Against Mexico, it took some time for Brazil to find their rhythm, like it has been the team’s usual pattern in the tournament. Mexico looked more threatening when it came to attack in the first-half. Their strategy was to have three players — Carlos Vela, Javier Hernandez and Hirving Lozana on the half-way line when Brazil enjoyed the possession. Once Mexico broke the play and get hold of the ball, they would go on to attack using the width of the ground and the pace of Lozano and Vela.

For most parts of the first-half, the strategy worked with Brazil’s full-backs — Fagner and Filipe Luiz getting isolated during Mexico’s attacks. Vela and Lozano did extremely well to put pressure on Brazil from the wings. The same tactic worked wonders for the team when they defeated Germany in the group stage. But then again, the weakness they showed against Germany came back to haunt them on Monday. For all the good attacks, Mexico lacked in finishing. Hernandez, despite showing promise going forward, didn’t do enough to beat his markers or put Brazil goalkeeper Alisson Becker in any trouble.

As Mexico found it tough to put one at the back of the net, Brazil grew in confidence. They started playing their game, dominating the possession and creating chances. Philippe Coutinho was floating around the midfield, finding space and passes with ease, Neymar’s trickery on the left started causing problems for Mexico, Gabriel Jesus was getting into good positions and on the right, Willian, the most improved player since the first game, became a headache for their opponents.

It was goalless at half-time but it looked as if Brazil will make an impact soon. Just six minutes after the start of the play, Brazil took the lead. The usually frustrated but extremely talented Neymar picked the ball on the left, ran diagonally inside, beating the defenaders. When it seemed his shot will be blocked by the bunch of Mexican players in front of him, Neymar back-heeled the ball to Willian, who moved towards the left side of the post and delivered a low pass to the centre.

Now, for all the talent of Neymar, he has an exceptional game sense. Once he passed to Willian, Neymar also made a run towards the centre of the net. Willlian’s ball beat Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa and Jesus, but not Neymar, who was there to score his team’s first goal. It might not be a deserving lead, but the goal was a testament to the quality of the Brazil side and the brilliance of Neymar.

Since the brilliance of Neymar came up, let’s also discuss another feature of his game; his ability to make a fool of himself while trying to be smart. The theatrics he brings onto the field might actually give a complex to a professional stage actor. In the second-half, Neymar went down after a tussle with Miguel Layun. The Mexican picked up the ball with his foot on Neymar’s ankle. The Brazilian then reacted in the most audacious manner, feigning so much pain that it appeared as if his World Cup was over. The referee and the VAR saw nothing malicious and no card was shown to Layun. Neymar, realising that his ‘performance’ was not good enough, got up and started playing as if nothing had happened.

Once Brazil took the lead, they dominated the play. The team could’ve had more than one goal in the period but Ochoa pulled off a string of good saves. Ochoa always saves his best for Brazil as evidenced in the previous World Cup when Brazil met Mexico. Mexico had some good moments in the second-half but nothing substantial to warrant an equaliser.

The game was put to bed two minutes from full-time when Fernandinho picked Neymar on the left, who surged ahead and aimed for his second of the night. Ochoa, showing form again, got faintest of touches to the ball but it fell in substitute Firmino’s path, who with one touch, slotted the ball inside the net. The game was done and dusted and so was Mexico’s World Cup.

The quality of Brazil’s attack was much-hyped before the tournament, and rightly so. But what has been also very impressive is the way centre-back duo of Miranda and Thiago Silva have preformed in Russia. Their positioning skills when their opponents attacked ensured there was no trouble in clearing the danger. Credit must also be given to Tite, who made sure that the team’s defence was sorted before the tournament. He knew Brazil’s attack will deliver, and so he rightly focussed on their defence.

In the 25 matches under Tite, Brazil have conceded just six goals. In four matches they have played in this World Cup, the defence has given away just one goal. Perhaps a true test of team’s defence will come against Belgium , who have more than one world-class players in their attacking ranks.