With the Barcelona star unable to break his shackles
against a well-organised Mexico side, Scolari's side looked worrying
bereft of ideas
By Robin Bairner at the Estadio Castelao, Fortaleza
Mexico might not have managed to inflict a bloody nose to World Cup hosts Brazil on Tuesday afternoon, but as they battled to a scoreless draw in Fortaleza, the north Americans helped to expose the limitations on Luiz Felipe Scolari’s squad.
A 3-1 win in their opening match was rather masked by a soft penalty award and the excellence of Neymar, but with the young Barcelona star for once mute in the gold of his country, the lack of other options open to Felipao was brutally exposed.
Fred, in particular, had a laborious match. The supposed spearhead of the Brazil side failed to threaten Guillermo Ochoa’s goal and was lamentable in much of his hold-up play, meaning that Neymar’s talents were often pushed into the shadows. Despite this, the Barcelona star still draw a couple of world-class stops from the visiting keeper.
The Fluminense forward has been described as this generation’s Serginho – a big, lumbering presence, with whom the team can succeed in spite of his presence.
But can they?
When Fred finally plodded off after a pedestrian hour, on came Jo, who offered an identical problem to the man he had replaced. Technically inadequate and not particularly sharp in front of goal, he is not the striker of a team aiming to win the World Cup.
Oscar offered a sparkling piece of skill early in the game that culminated with Fred, who had strayed offside in any case, striking wide of the target, yet this was an all too fleeting cameo from the Chelsea midfielder, who had abetted Neymar excellently in the victory over Croatia.
neymar-dependence-may-deny-shot-shy-brazil-glory? Read Details
Mexico might not have managed to inflict a bloody nose to World Cup hosts Brazil on Tuesday afternoon, but as they battled to a scoreless draw in Fortaleza, the north Americans helped to expose the limitations on Luiz Felipe Scolari’s squad.
A 3-1 win in their opening match was rather masked by a soft penalty award and the excellence of Neymar, but with the young Barcelona star for once mute in the gold of his country, the lack of other options open to Felipao was brutally exposed.
Fred, in particular, had a laborious match. The supposed spearhead of the Brazil side failed to threaten Guillermo Ochoa’s goal and was lamentable in much of his hold-up play, meaning that Neymar’s talents were often pushed into the shadows. Despite this, the Barcelona star still draw a couple of world-class stops from the visiting keeper.
The Fluminense forward has been described as this generation’s Serginho – a big, lumbering presence, with whom the team can succeed in spite of his presence.
But can they?
When Fred finally plodded off after a pedestrian hour, on came Jo, who offered an identical problem to the man he had replaced. Technically inadequate and not particularly sharp in front of goal, he is not the striker of a team aiming to win the World Cup.
Oscar offered a sparkling piece of skill early in the game that culminated with Fred, who had strayed offside in any case, striking wide of the target, yet this was an all too fleeting cameo from the Chelsea midfielder, who had abetted Neymar excellently in the victory over Croatia.
neymar-dependence-may-deny-shot-shy-brazil-glory? Read Details
0 comments:
Post a Comment