Paulo Bento goes back and forth between his bench and the edge of the field. The coach of the South Korean team is no longer sure if he should shout his instructions with a few words of English or choose silence. In the second half, the Portuguese is no longer agitated. He no longer has much to hope for. When Paik Seungho sends a dry shot into the Brazilian net (76e), the coach keeps his hands in his pockets while his assistants celebrate this goal of honor, that of a team eliminated by stronger than it, even if the South Koreans have not been undeserved.
“If we played a series of games, Brazil would always win, but in one game, we have our chances”, had tried to sell Bento during the press conference the day before. In reality, his South Korea never had a chance during this round of 16, this Monday, December 5 at the 974 stadium in Doha, beaten 4-1 by a Brazil in demonstration, at least in the first half. The fault of a first goal conceded too early (Vinicius, 7e), to the talent of an adversary as poochy as he is brilliant, to the return of a sparkling Neymar before finishing at a slow trot. It is also the fault of this logic of the Continents, which wants the quarter-finals of a World Cup to remain a closed club run by Europeans with Brazil and Argentina as permanent guests. Unless Morocco beats Spain on Tuesday, shattering certainties.
But the time for surprises seems to have evaporated with the end of the first round. “The defeat is right, we have to congratulate Brazil, they were better than us”, recognizes Paulo Bento before announcing his departure after four years at the head of the Taegeuk Warriors, “Proud of the work accomplished and of our Mondial. » On the defeat of the evening, the resigning regrets a little the largesse offered by his players. Bento would have liked to see his team defend lower, indulge less and offer wide spaces like the Doha ring road.
The Brazilians did not ask for so much, motivated by the idea of giving a little happiness and comfort to Pelé, “king” bedridden and who made it known that he was following the meeting from the hospital. The triple world champion must have appreciated Neymar’s mastery of converting the penalty (awarded by the French referee Clément Turpin, 13e) and especially this third goal. It’s unclear whether it was Brazil 1970 – perhaps the finest of them all – but there was a mixture of circus, magic and collective genius in this action. Like a street juggler, Richarlison bounced the ball off his head four times before starting a triangle game with Marquinhos and Thiago Silva until the perfect finish (30e).
“I hope Pelé enjoyed the game”
At that point, it was no longer really a round of 16 with suspense and drama, but a meeting of artists in which Vinicius took part, serving as a sleazy Lucas Paqueta for the fourth goal (36e). It was Brazil and its fantasies. Its yellow jersey, its five stars, its founding myths, its jogo bonito, this way of presenting oneself to the world more beautiful than the others. But in football, magic is often an illusion. Korean naivety helped, her refusal to close the game too. “During our first round, we had faced teams that were very close together behind, this was not the case with Korea and we were able to take advantage of it”recognized the most beautiful scorer of the evening, Richalison.
From the next round, Brazil will hit hard, in the very concrete with the outgoing finalist, Croatia, winner of Japan on penalties (1-1, 3-1 on penalties). Friday, it is hard to imagine Tite, a rather stiff coach of his person, sketching a few dance steps with his players as after the famous goal of Richarlison. Even less to take out his goalkeeper Alison Becker (not completely out of work against enterprising Koreans) to offer a few minutes of World Cup to his third goalkeeper, the very happy Wewerton.
For the moment, this Brazil is only smile and lightness. No one thought to blame him for this more relaxed second period. La Seleçao found the essentials on Monday, a happy Neymar, elected man of the match and reassured by his injured ankle at the start of the tournament against Serbia. ” When I got injured, I had a bad night, I thought of millions of things, I was afraid of not playing this World Cup anymore. he confessed at a press conference.
As always, Neymar has also “thanked God” and had a word of comfort for Oh Rei (the king) : “I hope Pelé enjoyed the game. » If he didn’t turn off his TV too quickly, maybe he saw “Ney” and his partners pose at the end of the meeting behind a banner with this legendary photo of him, drunk with happiness in the arms of Jairzinho after the victory against Italy in the 1970 final in Mexico City. Brazil was big and beautiful that day. That of 2022 can take the path, reconnect with victory and beauty, but he still has three games left to prove it.