South Korea’s defeat sets up Brazil’s quarterfinal matchup with Croatia

• Brazil beat South Korea 4-1 in the FIFA World Cup’s Round of 16
• Neymar returned after two games
• In the quarterfinals, Croatia will not play Brazil

DOHA: Brazil stepped up with Neymar back in the lineup on Monday to easily defeat South Korea 4-1 and advance to the World Cup quarterfinals, where they will play Croatia.

After missing two games due to a sprained ankle, Brazil’s yellow shirts surged ahead at Stadium 974 with the return of the most expensive player in the world.

In the first seven minutes, Vinicius Junior scored the game’s first goal before Neymar added another from the penalty spot to give him 76 goals overall for his country, one short of Pele’s all-time record.

Pele, 82, who is undergoing treatment for colon cancer, observed from his hospital bed in Sao Paulo. Pele was admitted on Tuesday.

Richarlison’s spectacular goal made it 3-0, and Lucas Paqueta added another goal just before halftime. All of these goals were celebrated with dancing moves as the Brazilian fans cheered them on.

When the Brazilians let up, Paik Seung-ho restored parity for the Koreans, but their attention was already on Friday’s quarterfinal matchup with Croatia, who finished second in 2018.

Brazil scored four goals for the first time in a World Cup knockout game since 1998, and their performance served as a signal to their opponents that they have a sixth championship in their sights.

Neymar remarked, “We obviously dream of winning the title, but we have to take it step by step.

He said that after hurting his ankle in Brazil’s opening match against Serbia, there was a time when he worried he wouldn’t be able to participate in the tournament again.

“I had an extremely terrible night after getting hurt. I had a gazillion different ideas going through my head.

Livakovic Serbian hero
In the day’s second last-16 match, Croatia’s goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic saved three penalties in the shootout to help his team defeat Japan and advance to the next round.

When Daizen Maeda gave Japan the lead shortly before halftime, they appeared to be on their way to defeating Croatia, who finished second in 2018. Japan had already defeated European powerhouses Germany and Spain in Qatar.

But in the 55th minute, a powerful header by Croatia’s Ivan Perisic in response to a cross from Dejan Lovren forced extra time in the first match of 2018 World Cup.

When neither team could break the stalemate, Qatar 2022’s first penalty shootout resulted from the tie.

It followed a remarkable trend in which Croatia has advanced to extra time in seven of its previous eight knockout matches at major competitions, with the exception of their defeat by France in the final in Russia four years ago.

Livakovic stopped Maya Yoshida’s attempt after saving the previous two Japan penalty kicks, and Mario Pasalic subsequently scored the game-winning penalty to advance Croatia.

The hero of the moment, Livakovic, said: “Thank God for that because I don’t think they were difficult penalties to save or ideal penalties.”

Luka Modric, the captain of Croatia, said: “It feels like we can’t accomplish it without a drama.

“We are overjoyed to have advanced to the quarterfinals. A very tough team was playing in a very challenging game.

Ritsu Doan, a striker for Japan, was blunt in his appraisal of his nation’s performance: “We didn’t rewrite history, no matter how well we fought today.”

Now that three-quarters of the quarterfinal lineup has been determined, Brazil will play Croatia on Friday while Argentina takes on the Netherlands.

The daunting prospect of playing host France on Saturday awaits England.

On Tuesday, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s Spain take on Switzerland, Spain will play a dangerous Morocco team as they attempt to secure their spot in the round of eight.

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