There was joy for Brazil in Moscow and also schadenfreude at one remove as the five-times champions progressed to the knockout stage of Russia 2018 by defeating Serbia on the same afternoon Germany exited the tournament. A projected last-16 meeting with the nemesis of four years ago can now be safely placed away in the box of horrors.
Brazil will instead travel south to Samara to play Mexico as Group E winners. And for all the triumphalism towards the end of this game – the cheers as they shuttled the ball around between some dogged, tiring Serbians – there will still be just a little unease about the latest generation to wear that heavy gold shirt.
Written by Barney Ronay at the Spartak Stadium
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jun/27/serbia-brazil-world-cup-match-report under the title “Paulinho and Thiago Silva put Brazil through and send Serbia home”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
