Serbia vs Brazil: Seleção look to clip Orlovi wings in group decider
Brazil will hope to seal their spot in the round of 16 as they take on Serbia at Moscow’s Otkrytiye Arena on Wednesday.
The Seleção have had a shaky start to the tournament as they drew Switzerland 1-1 in their opener, and had to wait until extra-time to finally break down Costa Rica. Still, it’s enough to see them on top of the group, although they will need to beat Serbia in order to guarantee passage into the next round.
Their upcoming opponents Serbia will be desperate for a win after throwing away a 1-0 lead against Switzerland to ultimately lose 2-1. Only Costa Rica is out of this group, meaning that Switzerland, Brazil, and Serbia all are in contention for two spots. Simply put, the Orlovi will need to win, otherwise, it’s an early flight home for stars like Aleksandar Kolarov and Nemanja Matic.
Mladen Krstajic faces a bit of a selection crisis as several of his star players are all sitting on yellow cards, meaning that some of them could be suspended for the round of 16 if Serbia qualifies. However, he won’t have much of a choice as it’s win or head home for Serbia and he just may have to risk it to try to defeat Brazil.
The Balkan side is the natural underdogs, but in addition to the aforementioned Kolarov and Matic, they have rising star Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who Lazio has slapped a hefty price tag on, as well as Aleksandar Mitrovic, Adem Ljajic, and Dusan Tadic – all of whom are experienced players with their respective clubs. And having failed to hold on to a 1-0 advantage after earning a win over Costa Rica thanks to captain Kolarov’s free-kick, the Orlovi know that they will face an uphill battle, despite Brazil’s failure to ignite so far at this tournament.
Brazil, for their part, has one foot in the door, but not yet. Switzerland’s win over Serbia means that both are tied on four points, and they will be going for it against an already-eliminated Costa Rica in the simultaneous game. A draw for the Seleção would suffice, although if Switzerland win their game then they will head into the round of 16 as the runners-up. However, given how things are shaping up interestingly in Group F, Brazil may not mind – especially if it’s Sweden or Mexico who ends up as the winners of that quartet.
Although star men Neymar and Coutinho are sitting on yellow cards, Tite will definitely deploy both against Serbia and hope that none of them do anything to rule themselves out of contention for the round of 16. This tournament hasn’t seen the best out of most of the heavyweights, with only Belgium and England winning convincingly in their group. However, Portugal, Spain, Argentina, France and Uruguay are among the bigger sides set to feature in the round of 16. Will Brazil be able to join them? Or will Serbia be the latest minnow – like their fellow Balkan nation Croatia – to cause problems for another giant?
