FIFA World Cup: Brazil's Fab Four live up to their reputation as favourites and bundle out South Korea
Brazil got off to a lightning start in the first half to beat South Korea 4-1 and advance to the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Qatar.
Brazil Fab Four played as well as their reputation suggested they could.Vinicius Junior, Neymar Jr., Richarlison, and Lucas Paqueta hit the net as the five-time world champions exploited yawning gaps in the opposition's defence and ran riot.
As the favourites eased off after the break, South Korea showed plenty of determination in attack and scored a deserved consolation goal in the 76th minute when Seung-ho Paik pulled the trigger from the box's edge.
An impressive first-half performance that will live long in the memory was set up in the seventh minute by the brilliant Vinicius, who scored the opening goal with a superb shot through a swarm of South Korean defenders.
Neymar Jr., who had missed the last two games with an ankle injury, converted a cheeky penalty in the 12th minute after Richarlison was fouled in the box.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Neymar is back ✨ <a href="https://t.co/FV58Y8AT20">pic.twitter.com/FV58Y8AT20</a></p>— B/R Football (@brfootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/brfootball/status/1599879818975272966?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
With that goal, Neymar Jr. came close to breaking Pele's record for his country. The exuberant cheers showed that this Brazilian team has a team spirit that rivals the best of its predecessors.
Despite their shortcomings defensively, the South Koreans were strong on offence, and Hwang Hee-chan nearly cut the deficit with a brilliant shot from 25 yards that Alisson Becker deflected over the crossbar.
Richarlison rounded off a brilliant move in the 29th minute when he tucked the Brazilians' third goal past Kim Seung-gyu after an audacious pass from centre-back Thiago Silva.
Brazil continued to storm forward, and Lucas Paqueta scored the fourth goal in the 36th minute with a superb volley into the corner after intercepting Vinicius' delicate lob into the box.
Lucas Paqueta, Raphinha, and Richarlison all missed golden chances in four minutes of first-half stoppage time as the South Koreans threatened to tumble.
But Paulo Bento's side got into the game better after the break. Son Heung-min stormed into the penalty area shortly after the break, where Alisson stopped him with a good save.
Shortly after an hour, the Liverpool goalkeeper had to make another good save after Hwang entered the penalty area from the right side and put a shot into the bottom corner.
Korea cut the deficit in the closing stages, but Dani Alves still had time to equalise before the final whistle confirmed the quarterfinal against 2018 runners-up Croatia.