Brazil turned on the style tonight to beat Serbia 2-0 in their Qatar 2022 World Cup opener but their excitement was dampened by an injury to star forward Neymar.
Richarlison scored two second-half goals, including a spectacular overhead kick, to take the five-times champions to the top of Group G.
The Tottenham Hotspur forward has been in excellent form for his country this year and he opened the scoring with an easy tap-in before extending the advantage with a spectacular acrobatic effort.
It was Richarlison’s ninth goal for Brazil in seven games in 2022 as Brazil climbed above Switzerland, who are second in the group after they beat Cameroon 1-0 earlier today.
The South Americans dominated the match but a very physical Serbia stubbornly held them off in the first half.
Brazil’s best chance of the opening half came when Neymar tried to catch Vanja Milinkovic-Savic off guard from a corner but the Torino goalkeeper punched it clear.
The second half was one-way traffic as Brazil ramped up the pressure, Richarlison and Neymar wasting good chances inside the box and Alex Sandro and Casemiro hitting the woodwork from distance.
Neymar was involved in the opening goal just past the hour mark, beating Serbian defenders before finding Vinicius, whose initial shot was pushed by Vanja Milinkovic-Savic to Richarlison who tapped in the rebound for his first World Cup goal.
Richarlison made it 2-0 in stunning style in the 73rd minute as he controlled a cross from Vinicius and leapt up in the air to volley home a bicycle kick to seal the win for Brazil.
An almost perfect night for Brazil was, however, soured when Neymar came off in the 80th minute with what looked like an ankle injury after a crunching tackle from Nikola Milenkovic.
Neymar has had problems with the right ankle in recent months and the Paris Saint-Germain forward sat morosely on the bench with his face covered while he received treatment as Brazil secured an impressive victory.
