With the hope and expectations of a nation on their shoulders, Brazil have so far failed to really wow during their opening two games at this FIFA World Cup. The hosts came back from a goal down against Croatia in their opening game of the tournament to claim a somewhat fortunate 3-1 win, but the Selecao couldn’t give their home fans much to shout about as they struggled to a 0-0 draw against Mexico in their second group game.
Despite winning their first game of the tournament, Brazil were left in no doubt that the hosts hadn’t performed anywhere near the level of a team hoping to win a World Cup. A year after beating Mexico on their way to winning the Confederations Cup at the Estadio Castelao, Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men looked like a different team as they failed to find a way past the Central Americans in Fortaleza.
With Neymar still yet to produce his best form despite scoring twice in the Croatia win, Brazil have looked somewhat devoid of ideas in attack at times so far in the tournament. Fred came into the World Cup on the back of a mixed few months and the striker hasn’t shown any real signs he is capable of leading the line for Brazil all the way to the title.
The Fluminense striker failed to have a single shot against Mexico before being hauled off for Jo, and it remains to be seen whether the forward will be given another chance to prove he deserves his place in the starting line-up in Brazil’s final group game against Cameroon.
While the hosts have all but booked their place in the second round following their opening two games, Brazil fans will be expecting to see a significant improvement in performances if their team are going to have any chance of winning fulfilling their pre-tournament brief.
