It was a tough night for the Koreans on the 5th of December as Brazil Players made a mess of their football skills.
Scoring four goals to one, on a night that Pele, the former football minister in Brazil and FIFA acclaimed footballer of the century, fights for his life in the hospital.
Brazil is through to the quarter-finals for the eighth-straight World Cup after a first-half goal bombardment against South Korea. The five-time champions booked a date with Croatia in the next round after a 4:1 win at Stadium 974 in Doha.
For the match, Korea Republic made only two changes from the team that beat Portugal 2-1. Min-jae Kim replaced Kyung-won Kwon in defence and Hwang Hee-chan came in for Lee Kang-in in the final third.
But Brazil made ten key changes from the team that lost 1-0 to Cameroon, with Militao being the only survivor.
Since the start of this tournament, it was the first time that Brazil found the back of the net in the first half.
In the 4th minute, there was an unyielding attacking move by Vinicius, Richarlison and Neymar with Korea seeking to make good use of every opportunity with the ball.
Then, in the 7th minute, a stunning opener by Vinicius puts Brazil in the lead. Raphinha does superb work down the right flank before pulling it back across for Vinicius at the back post. He takes a touch, steadies himself and then puts the ball into the top right corner of the back of the net.
Brazil quickly increased their lead in the 13th minute through Neymar, who marked his return to the starting XI with his 76th goal for his country, putting him just one shy of Pelé’s standing goal record.
Brazil then became invincible to the Koreans after they tripled the lead in the twenty-ninth minute with a goal that obviously should be a goal of the tournament. Richardson settled thirty yards from goal while locating Marquinhos, who passed to Thiago, who found Richailson with a one-touch pass free in the box before slotting smoothly past the keeper.
Lucas Paquetá made Brazil goal four in the thirty-seventh minute when Neymar, who found Vinícius Júnior in space down the left-hand side and chipped a floated ball to the top of the box for the West Ham United midfielder to slam home to emphasize the win beyond any doubt.
South Korea was almost consoled as Son Heung-min side-tracked Maquinhos into the area before dispatching an accurate shot. But Alison frustrated his effort, carting away what was supposed to be the Asian Giant’s best chance at a goal.
The Asian giants finally got on the scoresheet just fifteen minutes from full-time after a thunderbolt from 25 yards out dispatched by Paik Seung-Ho finally beat Alisson, who up to that point had made five saves on the night and looked indomitable.
The game ended 4-1 come full-time as Brazil looked forward to meeting Croatia in the quarter-finals in what will go down as one of the statement performances of the knockout stage where the South American juggernaut finally produced a display worthy of their reputation. Though South Korea suffered a heavy defeat, they can hold their heads high for a credible campaign.
The determination not to disappoint Pele, who was fighting for life, must have fueled Brazil to display a prowess worthy of its reputation. The former sports minister would be proud of his boys’ performance, making the emotional display of honour for the football legend all the more worthwhile in the face of victory.
