World Cup 2018: 3 reasons why Brazil won vs Costa Rica

Never doubt Brazil. The Seleção looked like they were going to be held for the 2nd time this World Cup but Philippe Coutinho popped up in the 91st minute to hand them the lead.

The Costa Rican hearts were broken and despite their attempt to quickly go down the other end and score, Brazil won the ball and the kept possession until the very end. Neymar and co were toying around with the opponents and then the PSG star sealed the match by scoring another one with the last kick of the game.

Despite conceding two, Keylor Navas should be proud of his performance and not drop his head. The defeat knocked the central Americal side out of the tournament but they played well in both the games.

Here are three things Brazil did right vs Costa Rica:

#3 Substitutions were spot on

Tite switched Willian for Douglas Costa at halftime and that turned out to be one of his best decisions. The Juventus star was dominating the right flank and was giving the Costa Rican defenders a tough time.

Willian was able to get behind them and put in some good crosses but that wasn't enough to get them past Keylor Navas. His shots were flying way over the bar and that was making things more difficult for the Seleção.

Neymar and Jesus were doing a lot for the team but they were just not getting the support from Willian. Douglas Costa's introduction gave then a fresh life and they had possession of the ball around the Costa Rican box all the time. Fagner supported him well and the fact that Costa was cutting in and shooting with his left foot gave little to no time for the defenders to react.

With the deadlock still not broken, Tite sent Firmino on for Paulinho. That changed the dynamics of the game and Brazil were all over Costa Rica. Keylor Navas was the only one keeping them in the game after that but he too was eventually beaten when the defenders failed to clear the ball and Coutinho notched in from 5 yards out!

#2 Change in formation

Brazil started off with a 4-3-3 formation and played in the same shape until the 68th minute. Firmino's introduction saw them go with a 4-2-4 formation with Coutinho as the advanced midfielder and Casemiro as the only one helping out Thiago Silva and Miranda in defence.

It can also be deemed as a 3-3-4 formation with Casemiro, Thiago Silva and Miranda in defence with Marcelo and Fagner acting as wingbacks. The switch got every Costa Rican defender busy with the Brazil attackers and that left Coutinho unmarked most of the time.

The unmarked Barcelona star eventually made them pay with the 91st-minute goal. That broke the Costa Rican hearts and there was no chance of them making a come back in the game they defended so well!

#1 Neymar not taking too much time on the ball

The one criticism everyone had about Neymar in the first game was that he was taking too much time on the ball and not doing anything with it. He was getting dispossessed by Granit Xhaka and Valon Behrami – making things difficult for his teammates.

Tite too seems to have taken note of it and made it clear to the PSG star. Neymar was quick to spot his teammates and pass it to them yesterday. He was making a lot of key passes and getting into spaces behind the defenders and not staying wide.

This helped Brazil break the Costa Rican wall. González, Acosta and Duarte were given a tough time by the Brazil front three and when Firmino came on, it became worse for them.