Tottenham forward Richarlison’s two goals helped Brazil to a 2-0 win over Serbia in both sides opening game in Group G.
As usual, Brazil's starting eleven was filled with big names across the pitch. Liverpool's Alisson started in goal over Ederson, and Vinicius Jr and Neymar were the star men in attack.
Serbia also had a number of notable names starting for them. Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic started up top, with Ajax’s Dusan Tadic and Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic just behind him.
The first half was very uneventful, with the only clear cut chance falling to Brazil’s Raphinha in the 35th minute, but his effort was easily scooped up by Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
Brazil came close to opening the scoring almost instantly in the second half, as Raphinha dispossessed Gudelj on the edge of the Serbia box, but Milinkovic-Savic produced a big save to keep the score level.
A Seleção had another great chance to make it 1-0 on the hour mark, but Alex Sandro’s driven effort from range cannoned back off the post and was cleared.
5 minutes later, Brazil finally found the back of the net. Vinicius Jr’s shot was saved by Milinkovic-Savic, but fell straight to the feet of RIcharlison who was left with a tap in.
It wasn’t long before the 5 time World Cup winners had a second. Vinicius Jr’s outside of the boot cross was touched up into the air by Richarlison, who then fired the ball into the corner of the goal in acrobatic fashion to double his tally for the game.
It was the perfect start for the Brazil National Team, as they end the first round of fixtures top of the group, but there are worries over the fitness of Neymar, who limped off the pitch and is set for a scan on his ankle.
Both sides are back in action again on Monday, with Serbia facing Cameroon at 10am GMT, and Brazil playing Switzerland at 4pm GMT.
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