Neymar is the World Cup’s supervillain: Five things learned as Mexico fall to Brazil

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In an exciting afternoon of football, Brazil saw off Mexico, winning 2-0 in the round of 16.

The result sends the Selecao through to their seventh straight quarter-final, whilst Mexico go out at this round for the seventh straight competition. What did we learn?

1. Neymar ascendant, as a supervillain

Neymar’s outrageous skill and steely big match ability have left him as the world’s second best player for going on three years now. He is a mesmeric wireframe of almost incomparable genius. This ability, the skill, has obviously cast him into the role of Brazil’s national hero. He’s an icon to their people and the leading light of their team. This was Neymar’s Brazil.

But before today, he was the sidekick in his own team. Philippe Coutinho was Brazil’s best player as they topped Group E; it was the Barcelona man who guided them to crucial victories and earned them their only draw. What we have seen from Neymar has been positive intent curtailed by physical defending and a lot of rolling around.

Now against Mexico, we saw the real Neymar. He stood up and took control, creating danger whenever he was on the ball. His extended one-two with Willian saw him open the scoring for Brazil and he even added a (sort of) assist late on when his shot was clipped into the path of Roberto Firmino. Finally, he was ready to take control. To shed the antics and just be brilliant.

Except minutes later when Miguel Layun trod on his ankle – a dirty bit of gamesmanship that was probably worthy of a red card – Neymar began flailing around like Darryl Hannah in Blade Runner (or Darryl Hannah in Kill Bill, depending on your age). It was a ridiculous overreaction that recast Neymar in a new light; he’s no superhero, he’s a supervillain.

Oh, he is still very much super, the Brazilian is unquestionably the best player left at the World Cup now Argentina have been eliminated, but his manner will never be heroic. Neymar is not the stoic athlete, he’s not even the flashy athlete, he is a playacting primadonna, a flailing diver and relentless aggravator; a supreme supervillain. And that’s alright, football always needs bad guys.

2. Magical Mexico fall in the fourth, again

Since Mexico made the quarter-finals in the 1986 FIFA World Cup (where they were hosts) they had gone out in six consecutive World Cups at the round of 16 stage. They had hoped this year would be different, especially because they had already played their part in dethroning World Champion Germany. But alas, it was not to be.

Mexico started fast, pressing Brazil in the middle of the park. This squeezed the Selecao and forced a lot of good turnovers of possession. Mexico were running at Brazil’s defence, creating chances. But just as in every other game this tournament, their play was so frenetic that their decision-making in the final third was terrible. And against a side as good as Brazil, they came up short.

It’s a real shame, but not unexpected. Four games and out. Same time in four years, eh lads?

3. Willian finally arrives

Willian came into today’s game struggling to be at his best in the World Cup. He was clearly limited by playing an orthodox wing role, failing to replicate his club form. Had Douglas Costa not gotten injured, it’s likely Willian would have been dropped. But Costa did get hurt and Willian took advantage of his chance.

He started the game slowly, but as the second half wore on, Willian grew into the game. He began roaming from the right and going either way when taking opponents on. This unpredictability gave him a new edge, and when Neymar gave him the ball on the edge of the area, Willian flew to his left, leaving Mexican defenders in the dust before firing the ball across goal for Neymar to tap home.

With Willian in the groove, that’s bad news for Brazil’s opponents.

4. Lozano will be missed

Mexico as a whole were great fun, but Hirving Lozano in particular will be a huge miss for the World Cup. The winger can and did play on either flank, terrorising defenders. He scored Mexico’s winning goal against Germany, condemning the World Champions to a defeat from which they would never recover. He created Mexico’s winning goal against Korea, putting El Tri on the verge of qualification.

Even against Brazil, Mexico never looked more dangerous than when Hirving Lozano was on the ball. Carlos Vela’s quality performance was mostly in service of creating the kind of attacking opportunities Lozano thrived on. And it’s quite telling that Brazil’s opening goal was bookended by two Mexico attacks where Vela was wide-open in space on the left flank, only for his team-mates to ignore him as a passing option and lash a long-range shot straight into defenders ahead of him.

Had either of his team-mates made that pass, you can be sure Lozano would have made something of the chances. Those were exactly the position he scored from against Germany. So long, Chucky Lozano. The World Cup will miss you. As will PSV surely, because there’s no way you’re staying in the Eredivisie after a tournament as good as that!

5. Casemiro’s suspension a blessing

Just short of the hour mark, Casemiro picked up a yellow card. This booking rules him out of their quarter-final clash against Belgium or Japan. On the face of it, losing their starting defensive midfielder is bad for Brazil. And sure, Casemiro’s unique set of skills are useful for Brazil and his tackling tenacity will be missed.

But the suspension could be a blessing in disguise as, if Tite replaces him correctly (with Fred) then Brazil will have actually fixed their main flaw; that is their susceptibility to a mid-block press. Casemiro is a fantastic tackler and shooter but the rest of his game is fairly anaemic, which means that whenever he is pressed he can struggle to cope with it.

Brazil’s weakness against the press has already been amplified by the absence of Dani Alves, Casemiro just makes it worse. But if Tite replaces Casemiro with Fred, a playmaker capable of playing at the base of midfield, then suddenly Brazil become a much more dangerous team who don’t really have a clear weakness.

The post Neymar is the World Cup’s supervillain: Five things learned as Mexico fall to Brazil appeared first on Squawka News.



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