World Cup 2018: Brazil vs Costa Rica: 5 Best, Worst & Average Players

2. Worst: Paulinho

Pretty much sums up his game

The fact that Paulinho is being preferred over a more skilful, creative Fred in the right-hand side of the midfield is astounding, to be honest. The FCB player had a minimal contribution in the game today, as he hardly ever influenced any sort of attacking moves and was a liability with his finishing.

He is supposed to add up, as an extra, strong physical figure inside the box but Paulinho did not do justice to his box-to-box role either. Whenever Costa Rica broke on the counter-attack, Paulinho was found off-position and had to cover up a lot of ground in order to thwart the danger from the midfield.

Casemiro was doing a lot of defensive work as Paulinho strolled across the field, looking at getting involved in the passing combinations but eventually failing to do so too. Paulinho did not drive the team ahead on certain occasions too, and the likes of Neymar and Douglas Costa (in the second half) had to do that from the flanks instead.

His substitution rather tilted the game to Brazil’s favour as Roberto Firmino provided much more tenacity and energy in the attacking midfield position, eventually winning the header which resulted in Coutinho’s goal. Though Paulinho somehow redeemed himself by getting more involved in the later stages of his stay on the pitch, his overall performance left a lot to be desired.