Rostov-on-Don: Brazil’s bid for a sixth World Cup got off to a slow start as Switzerland withstood an early onslaught to snatch a 1-1 draw in Rostov-on-Don on Sunday.
On the day when holders Germany were shocked 1-0 by Mexico, Brazil’s tag as pre-tournament favourites looked justified in a dominant first-half capped by Philippe Coutinho’s wonder strike to open the scoring.
However, Brazil paid for their failure to kill the game off when Steven Zuber powered home an equaliser from Xherdan Shaqiri’s corner five minutes after the break. The pressure will now be on Brazil to kickstart their campaign when they face Costa Rica on Friday.
Mexico beat Germany
Defending champions Germany crashed to defeat in their first game at the World Cup on Sunday as an enterprising Mexico refused to be intimidated and came away 1-0 winners in a thrill-packed Group F opener.
A shaky warm-up campaign had called into question the dominant form the Germans showed in qualifying, but experience and records were on their side, having won every opening game at major tournaments since Joachim Loew took over as coach in 2006.
Juan Carlos Osorio’s side had other ideas, however, holding their own against the favourites’ fearsome but slowing midfield and finding space at the back and seeking to end 33 years without a win against Germany. After wasting a handful of first-half chances while living dangerously in their own half, Hirving Lozano’s 35th-minute strike on the break proved just reward.
The Germans now face Sweden and South Korea and should still qualify from Group F. But their reputation is not what it was.
Serbia beat Costa Rica
Aleksandar Kolarov’s brilliant second-half free-kick gave Serbia a 1-0 victory over Costa Rica in their opening World Cup group match in Samara on Sunday.
The Roma defender made the crucial breakthrough early in the second half with a magnificent effort, and although Serbia missed chances to further extend their lead, they were not overly troubled by the Costa Ricans.
The win puts Serbia in a strong early position in Group E ahead of games against Brazil and Switzerland as they look to reach last 16 for the first time since becoming an independent country, while Costa Rica have it all to do to repeat their surprise run to quarter-finals four years ago.
This post was published on June 18, 2018 5:13 pm