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As Richarlison scores twice, Brazil defeats Serbia in the World Cup final.

Richarlison scored twice in the second half to lead Brazil to a 2-0 victory over Serbia in the opening game of the World Cup on Thursday at the Lusail Stadium.

After a Vinicius Junior attempt was saved in the first half, the record five-time winners improved after the break and were rewarded with the opening goal in the 62nd minute by Tottenham Hotspur striker Richarlison.

Then, in the 73rd minute, Vinicius assisted Richarlison on his incredible acrobatic goal, which is undoubtedly the best of the World Cup so far.

Brazil’s previous World Cup group stage loss was in 1998 to Norway, by which time they had already qualified for the knockout stage, therefore this result keeps them on track for another perfect tournament performance.

Having beaten Cameroon 1-0 earlier, Tite’s squad is now in first place in Group G, ahead of their next opponents, Switzerland.

The result was the same as in their opening group stage match in 2018, although Brazil has high hopes for this tournament after losing to Belgium in the quarterfinals in 2014.

It’s been 20 years since their last championship, but they’ve arrived in Qatar as heavy favorites.

Their great rivals, Argentina, were stunned by Saudi Arabia in the initial round of matches in Qatar, and Germany was stunned by Japan.

Although Serbia is ranked 21st in the FIFA rankings, they are one of Europe’s most improved teams and finished first in their qualifying group, ahead of Portugal.

A loss for Brazil at a venue where they plan to play in the final on December 18 would have been a major upset.

Tite fielded an offensive-minded team that featured Neymar in support of Richarlison, Raphinha and Vinicius on the flanks, and Lucas Paqueta in the middle of the park to inject some flair.

As the game began, Neymar, the world’s most expensive player, needed just two goals to tie Pele’s all-time record of 77 for Brazil, but he will have to wait a bit longer.

The Serbian defense tried its best to thwart the PSG star, who nearly scored on a straight header off an early corner, which would have shook the great Lusail Stadium to its foundations with their yellow and green support.

Acrobatic
Raphinha performed a one-two with Paqueta before having his effort saved, then Thiago Silva’s defence-splitting pass found Vinicius in the box, but Real Madrid’s Vanja Milinkovic-Savic made a save.

Within a minute of the resumption, Barcelona winger Raphinha was once again involved when he pressured Nemanja Gudelj into losing the ball and was again denied by the goalie.

On the other hand, Serbia’s defenses finally gave way shortly after the hour mark.

Alex Sandro’s warning shot, taken with his left foot, hit the post, and two minutes later, the goal was scored.

The shot that Neymar set up for Vinicius was blocked by Milinkovic-Savic, but Richarlison was there to tap in the rebound.

In response, Serbia substituted in the talented but injury-prone Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic.

And when the second goal finally did come, it was a show stopper fit for the largest stage, Brazil had finally regained their footing.

Richarlison took possession of a cross from Vinicius with the outside of his right boot, turned, and sprang ludicrously to head the ball into the net.

In spite of the fact that Brazil could have scored more goals (Casemiro had one attempt bounce off the bar), the team’s start was very encouraging.