After the gala performance against South Korea, Neymar shuffled onto the pitch in flip-flops, after which the entire Seleção sent a signal to Brazilian football legend Pelé. Led by the recovered superstar, the world record champion posed after the 4-1 (4-0) with a banner displaying the likeness of the 82-year-old.
The message was clear: even after the easy quarter-finals at the World Cup in Qatar, the team is behind Pelé, who has been hospitalized for a few days in the San Paolo hospital. In any case, he must have appreciated the impressive show of force against hopelessly overwhelmed Asians in front of the television.
“He’s not well and we think of him. We wish him the best and play for him. We hope he’s happy with us,” Neymar told Pele and was happy with the next step towards his sixth world title: “We dream of the title in this championship of the world. There are still three games left, we are well prepared and mentally focused.”
The record world champion advanced to the next round of the tournament in Qatar on Monday night. In the first half alone at Stadion 974, the South Americans scored four goals through Vinicius Júnior (7th minute), Neymar (13th / penalty), Richarlison (29th) and Lucas Paquetá (36th), one of them more beautiful than so else it was. Former Darmstadt Seung-Ho Paik (76th) scored the consolation goal for the outsider. In the group of the top eight, the Brazilians now meet second-placed Croatia.
For Pelé: «We dedicate this victory to him»
“You become a tournament like this and every game gets a little better. We are well tuned,” said the Brazilian Vinicius Júnior and also thought of Pelé: “We dedicate this victory to him. We hope he gets out of the hospital as soon as possible and we can become world champions for him.”
Less than 15 minutes had passed in front of the 43,847 crowd before the Brazilians danced their joy twice in front of the crowd. First the strong Raphinha started dribbling down the right wing, moved into the penalty area and set up Vinicius Júnior. Instead of finishing straight away, the 22-year-old took the ball calmly, aimed for the right corner and slammed the ball into the goal. Then the whole squad jumped arm in arm before the corner, then Neymar, Vincius Júnior, Lucas Paquetá and Raphinha performed another samba interlude. Four minutes later they were jumping again.
This time Richarlison was fouled in the penalty area and referee Clément Turpin awarded a penalty. And now the fans were asking for Neymar, who had recovered from his foot injury, as a shooter. The 30-year-old delayed his run-up and pushed the ball into the bottom right corner. As the South Korea goalkeeper stopped, the ball fell into the goal. The goal made the superstar the only Brazilian, alongside Pele and Ronaldo, to score in three different World Cups. And the Seleção didn’t stop.
South Korea is never a danger
At no point in the game did it appear that the South Koreans could pose a serious threat to the record world champions. The Asians hardly put their outstanding player Heung-Min Son into the game. Furthermore, they were overwhelmed by the speed and technical class of the favourite. Former Leipzig Hee-Chan Hwang (17th/32nd) tested goalkeeper Alisson twice in the first round. But on both occasions Brazil were already comfortably in the lead. The Seleção only conceded what they could in view of the one-sided match. His victory has never been in danger. Instead, the height has been increased.
After a superb three-poster combination, with just one touch at a time, Richarlison was free in front of the South Koreans’ goal and slotted in easily. A few minutes later it got even better. This time, Neymar initiated a Seleção counter-attack and passed the ball to Vinicius Júnior, whose cross was put straight into the center by Paquetá. Once again the Brazilians danced in front of the fans. You could almost feel sorry for the Asians.
They couldn’t even get close in the second half, even though the Seleção were more relaxed now. As a result, the outsider also created chances, but failed in each case due to the strong Alisson: Once the Liverpool FC goalkeeper saved Son (47th), and once again beautifully blocked a shot from Hwang ( 68th). But the South Koreans have succeeded once again. Paik’s fine shot hit the goal with a slight deflection.
