Brazil vs Korea: Asia’s most successful side look to stage upset against South American titans
Korea will be aiming to stage a major upset when they face Brazil in the round of 16 on Monday. The Taegeuk Warriors are in the knockout rounds for the first time since 2010, and to date, their best ever result was fourth spot at the 2002 edition of this competition. It certainly has not been an easy journey to this juncture for Paulo Bento’s side, who were sitting on just one point after drawing Uruguay in their opener and losing 3-2 to Ghana on matchday two.
Indeed, when matchday three came around, many were already expecting Korea to be heading home early as they had to take on EURO 2016 winners Portugal. Yet, football’s unpredictable nature again reared its interesting head. Although Portugal, who had already qualified, thought they had done enough when Ricardo Horta put them ahead, Korea, who needed a win to sneak in past Ghana, battled back with goals from Kim Young-gwon and Hwang Hee-chan. That result, combined with Ghana’s poor showing in a 2-0 loss to Uruguay, mean that Korea joined 2002 World Cup co-hosts Japan in the round of 16.
The make-up of this year’s round of 16 has been a lot more diverse than fans have seen in a while, with two African sides (Senegal and Morocco) joining three AFC-based teams (Japan, Korea, and Australia). So far, Senegal have been eliminated, with Sadio Mane’s absence painfully felt as the Lions of Teranga bowed out following a heavy 3-0 loss to England. Morocco will be in action on Tuesday against Spain, while Japan will face Croatia earlier on Monday.
Additional reading: Japan vs Croatia: Blue Samurai look to take down another giant
The task ahead for Bento’s team is without saying – they will need to beat the five-time World Cup winners to book their spot in the quarter-finals. To date, Korea have never beaten a South American side at a World Cup, with two draws and four losses from their six prior attempts. In addition, Brazil have won six of their last seven meetings, including a 5-1 friendly this past June, albeit all of those games were friendly ties. Yet, they have a solid tactician on the bench in the form of Bento, who so far, has lost just one of his five games in charge at a World Cup (split between his time with Portugal and Korea); he will be hoping to become the first Portuguese tactician to win a knockout round in this competition.
Regarding Brazil and their track record, it’s important to note that the South American powerhouse had never lost to an African side, and they come into this contest having lost 1-0 to Cameroon. While some may write off the loss as purely academic considering that Tite’s side had already qualified, it nonetheless will give Korea some vestiges of hope as they face their toughest battle just yet.
Brazil, for their part, are expected to welcome star man Neymar just in time as the tournament really gets underway. The Selecao, who are the only team to have qualified for every single version of the World Cup since its inception in 1930, are hoping to win their sixth title, 20 years after their last triumph, which interestingly was co-hosted by Japan and their upcoming opponents Korea. Despite the South American giants being the obvious favorites here, Brazil’s form at World Cups has taken a dip, and they come into this contest having lost four of their last ten games (W5 D1). That’s as many as they had lost in their previous 36 games (W26 D6), and will come as a major source of concern for Tite ahead of this match.
On paper, it does look firmly advantage Brazil, who have progressed from the knockout rounds in eight of their last nine World Cup appearances, and Tite has yet to lose as manager to the Asian nation. Yet, as this competition has shown so far, ranking means nothing, and hence, Brazil, having to complete a group stage campaign unblemished for the first time since 1998, will need to quickly recover if they want to avoid suffering an upset that certainly would surpass Saudi Arabia’s 2-1 win over Argentina on matchday one.
