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Ramos hits hat-trick as Portugal thrash Switzerland 6-1 after Ronaldo dropped | World Cup 2022

You drop Cristiano Ronaldo and the man you pick instead of him best not miss. Gonçalo Ramos is 21. He made his international debut last month. Before Tuesday he had only played 36 minutes of international football. And yet within 17 minutes he had already scored more World Cup knockout goals than Ronaldo; by midway through the second half he’d scored the first hat-trick of Qatar 2022. Fernando Santos could hardly have been more obviously vindicated. Ramos, emphatically, did not miss, setting up a quarter-final against Morocco.

Santos has the rumpled air of a man who has slept in his car. He could be Elliott Gould playing Columbo. He is not a man who has ever willingly done anything interesting, so when the day before the game he had criticised Ronaldo for his shushing gesture after being substituted against South Korea, it felt significant. Ronaldo himself claimed it was directed at the South Korean forward Cho Gue-sung, who was trying to chivvy him off the pitch but, given similar situations at Manchester United, the widespread assumption in Portugal seems to be that it was aimed at his critics, of whom there are a growing number. A poll in the sports daily A Bola suggested 70% of readers thought he should not start against the Swiss.

It was 6,747 days since Portugal last started a live tournament match without Ronaldo, against Russia at Euro 2004. But age, it feels, has caught up with him very quickly of late. Ramos hadn’t quite turned three when that Russia game was played. Ronaldo inevitably draws the attention, the mass of his celebrity so great that everything else is drawn into his orbit. But Rúben Neves and João Cancelo were also left out having played in every group game, which perhaps hinted that Santos had recognised that Portugal had not played especially well, despite sealing qualification by winning their first two games.

This was far better. As United have found this season, teams function better without a black hole up front, dragging everything else into its overwhelming gravitational field. There was a lightness to Portugal, a sense of relief, of imagination. Ramos moved, and that allowed others to move off him. And that attacking midfield three of Portugal – Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and João Félix – is packed with creative talent just waiting to be unleashed.

Taking the handbrake off is not usually Santos’s style (perhaps he worries the car will roll away with him snoring on the back seat), but it worked. Switzerland, surprisingly starting with a back three, simply couldn’t cope. Fabian Schär, so improved for Newcastle this season, looked especially uncomfortable. Ramos turned him far too easily for the first and he was then emphatically beaten in the air by Pepe as he headed in a corner to make it 2-0 after 33 minutes, becoming the oldest man ever to score in a World Cup knockout game. His yellow card for a lunge on João Félix was indicative of his befuddlement and he was understandably withdrawn at half-time.

Cristiano Ronaldo in action — Cristiano Ronaldo came off the bench during Portugal’s one-sided win. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Santos darted across the near post to turn in Diogo Dalot’s low cross in via the undercarriage of Yann Sommer, laid on the fourth for Raphaël Guerreiro and then dinked a fifth as the Swiss defence fell apart. Rafael Leão floated in a brilliant sixth.Stop all the clocks: if you thought the Swiss could last forever, you were wrong. This was Portugal’s biggest ever win in a tournament knockout game, the first time they had won a World Cup knockout game by more than two since beating North Korea 5-3 in 1966.

It was all very incongruous for a Santos team, all the more so when Manuel Akanji bundled in a corner at the back post to make it 4-1 just before the hour. Santos immediately was out to the edge of his technical area, pointing and glaring. A lot of people were having far too much fun.

Ronaldo seemed genuinely enthused by it all, joining the celebratory huddle after Pepe’s goal, grinning broadly after Ramos’s second and standing and applauding the fourth. Every now and again the big screens in the four corners of the ground would flash up a picture of Ronaldo on the bench, drawing screams of excitement. It all seemed a little uncomfortable, especially when the crowd started singing his name and then booing when Santos, never the most instinctive people-pleaser refused to accede to their demands. Through it all, he sat impassive, chin propped on hand.

Gonçalo Ramos

Then, just one more thing, as Ronaldo was brought on for Ramos to rapturous cheers. By then, though, the applause for every touch felt pitched somewhere between pity and a disturbing hero worship. Even Ronaldo gave a slightly embarrassed grin before thumping a free-kick into the wall in time-honoured style.

Perhaps there could yet be one great narrative crescendo in the Ronaldo-Lionel Messi saga with a Portugal v Argentina final. Such is Ronaldo’s sense of his own destiny that it’s entirely possible he could yet correct the climax of Euro 2016 when he was injured early and Portugal won without him, by coming off the bench to seal the glory. But right now, Portugal look an awful lot better without him.

Serbia face Fifa disciplinary proceedings after stormy Switzerland showdown | World Cup 2022

Fifa has opened disciplinary proceedings against Serbia on three counts relating to their stormy group-stage defeat by Switzerland.

Serbia lost Friday’s game 3-2 and were eliminated from the World Cup. They are already under an existing investigation for displaying a flag that included Kosovo in their nation’s territory in their dressing room before facing Brazil eight days previously; now the governing body has begun a new set of cases for incidents that occurred during and around a match whose tensions steadily ramped up.

A Fifa statement read: “The Fifa disciplinary committee has opened proceedings against the Football Association of Serbia due to potential breaches of articles 12 (misconduct of players and officials), 13 (discrimination) and 16 (order and security at matches) of the Fifa disciplinary code related to incidents during the Serbia v Switzerland World Cup match that took place on 2 December.”

A public address announcement in the 77th minute of the game had asked the crowd to refrain from “discriminatory chants and gestures”. An eyewitness later alleged to the Guardian that Serbia supporters had displayed fascist slogans and aimed racist chants towards ethnic Albanians at Stadium 974, and claimed to have been set upon by a group of fans.

Eleven players, seven of them Serbian, were booked during a game that overspilled after a confrontation involving the Switzerland midfielder Granit Xhaka. He appeared to grab his genitals in front of the Serbia bench after they had appealed for a second-half penalty, causing tempers to flare on both sides. Xhaka was also involved in a late confrontation with the Serbia player Nikola Milenkovic that sparked a similar fracas.

The Guardian understands no proceedings will be opened against the Swiss football association in relation to what unfolded.

Serbia fans ‘showed fascist slogans and sang about killing Albanians’ at game | Serbia

Serbia supporters displayed fascist slogans and aimed racist chants towards ethnic Albanians during their side’s match against Switzerland on Friday night, according to an eyewitness account given to the Observer.

The scenes at Stadium 974 in Doha, where Switzerland won 3-2 to secure a last-16 place in a match that spilled over during the second half, raise questions about Fifa’s stewarding and in particular its apparent tolerance of offensive insignia. Hasan Rrahmani arrived at the match wearing an Albanian flag around his neck but says he had it confiscated at the entrance while derogatory nationalist symbols were allowed through. He says he was shown a WhatsApp message that Fifa had sent to security staff containing pictures of items, pictures and phrases that were not allowed.

“I was completely dumbfounded to see the number of fascist slogans, T-shirts and flags,” Rrahmani said. He has shown the Observer photographic evidence of a supporter wearing a green hat closely associated with atrocities committed in the Kosovan and Bosnian wars, and says the man was part of a group in the same attire. Among other items of clothing worn freely around the stadium, he says, were T-shirts reading “From Serbia to Tokyo”, a nationalist slogan employed by Serbian football fans invoked during the wars of the 90s. Rrahmani says police were not interested in complaints relating to the items, or to three-fingered gestures considered offensive in many contexts.

Fifa may find the supporters’ chants more straightforward to deal with, having issued a public address message in the 77th minute asking for “discriminatory chants and gestures” to cease. Rrahmani says those were audible from an early stage of the evening. “I was shocked at the vitriol, absolutely dumbfounded,” he says. “They were singing the most vile racist chants.”

Among those he says he heard were songs involving the word “Šiptar”, a well-known derogatory term used against Albanians, and a call-and-response routine of “Kill, kill, kill the Albanians”. Fans also sang “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia”, related to their country’s refusal to recognise Kosovan independence, he says. “It would start in one corner and the rest of the fans would pick it up,” Rrahmani said. Such songs are not unfamiliar at matches where tensions between Serbia and Albania have ignited, including the infamous “drone” game in October 2014 when a Euro 2016 qualifier in Belgrade spiralled into chaos.

Rrahmani describes retrieving his flag from a collection point after the game, and also seeing Serbs being handed back some confiscated items. He describes being set upon by “seven or eight” Serbia supporters upon exiting the stadium area. “They shoved me, saying: ‘Go fuck yourself Šiptar,’” he said. “They threw water at me. I tried to walk away but seven or eight big blokes followed me. In the end I ran towards the police, who didn’t do anything. Everything that happened around the evening was just frightening. What I expected to be a good night rekindled all those memories of the past that I thought had gone.” He says the police were polite and reassuring but let the group walk away.

Serbia are already under investigation by Fifa for displaying a flag showing Kosovo as part of their territory, along with the words “We do not surrender”, in their dressing room before facing Brazil last week. Rrahmani says similar flags were visible inside the ground.

“Fifa’s inconsistency shocks me,” he says. “How on earth, in 2022, can you allow fans in a World Cup stadium to shout about killing another nation? I came away feeling marginalised and not welcomed by Fifa.”

Rrahmani emphasises that this was an anomaly in an otherwise enjoyable experience at World Cup stadiums. He was born in Kosovo and lives in London; he has been following England and Wales in Qatar but attended Friday’s match to support Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka, Switzerland players who have Kosovan roots. Their goal celebrations in the same fixture at Russia 2018, forming Albanian “eagle” symbols with their hands, caused controversy and set much of the context for the second-half scenes in Doha.

Xhaka could face investigation for grabbing his genitals in front of the Serbia bench and other figures from both camps may fear censure. An Albania fan was seen being escorted from the stadium during the second half after making the eagle gesture.

Fifa declined to comment about the prospects of disciplinary action or on the issues described by Rrahmani.

Game of cojones: Serbia suffer and give Granit Xhaka the last word | World Cup 2022

Maybe Fifa does have a sense of humour after all. Certainly there was a note of dark comedy in the news, relayed breathlessly over the PA on the final whistle, that the player of the match in this fraught Group E decider was Granit Xhaka.

Not that Xhaka didn’t deserve it. He played well in deep midfield on a steamy night at Stadium 974. He controlled the tempo at times. More to the point Xhaka also controlled the noises off, directing the dark energy that must always accompany this fixture with the poise of a veteran conductor. Albeit, a veteran conductor with one hand down his shorts.

In the end Switzerland progressed quite comfortably to the last 16 with a 3-2 defeat of a Serbia team that ran itself dry in the first half chasing the sun. But the story behind the game will be the heat, the moments of friction, and indeed Xhaka’s own mastery of the gesture of offence.

There has been talk at this World Cup about football turning into a game of moments. Here was a game that came packed with something much more complex, the most troubled of narratives, a three-volume tract of deep ethnic division.

And yet midway through the second half that baroque backstory was captured in a screenshot, a gif, a single moment, as Xhaka seemed to grab his testicles in an insult directed towards the Serbia bench. Here was Albania-Kosovo-Serbia in a freeze-frame, a history primer for the TikTok generation.

After the game Xhaka shrugged off any suggestion of tension on the pitch, but he might be in a spot of trouble if anyone ever manages to establish the facts. There was a suggestion of pointed words exchanged, of targeted gestures in return. None of this came as a surprise.

This was only the second time these nations have been on a football pitch together. After the first in 2018 there was anger over Xhaka’s and Xherdan Shaqiri’s finger-flapping goal gesture referencing the eagle on the Albanian flag. Both players have Kosovan heritage.

Kosovo, which has a large ethnic Albanian majority, declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Much of the world recognises it. Serbia does not. In an added twist the eagle moment happened in Kaliningrad, a separate Russian enclave by the Baltic. Vladimir Putin is anti-Kosovo. Serbia likes Russia. Hmmm. Isn’t history supposed to have ended?

Xherdan Shaqiri celebrates scoring Switzerland’s first goal against Serbia. — Xherdan Shaqiri celebrates scoring Switzerland’s first goal in understated fashion given the political tensions around the match. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA

Murat Yakin and the Swiss had tried their best to take the heat out of all this before the game. Fat chance. In added time there was a genuine flare-up. First Xhaka and Vanja Milinkovic-Savic came together in a classic snarling, chest-shoving huddle. Then it was Xhaka and Aleksandar Mitrovic, who seemed genuinely furious. It looked unresolved. Mitrovic seemed to be making plans for a further summit at some later date.

The benches had emptied after the Xhaka moment, with Dragan Stojkovic, such a dreamy attacking midfielder in his time, out on a World cup pitch once again. There was an ominous message over the PA with 77 minutes gone urging the crowd to refrain from all discriminatory shouts and gestures. Perhaps this was directed at Xhaka.

Granit Xhaka

But even without all that this was a fun, open, slightly wild game. Stadium 974 is one of Doha’s more original stadiums, an edgy urban kind of thing, with a shipping container facade that appears to have been built by elite Qatari hipsters. Serbia needed to win. Switzerland could probably go through with a draw.

And from the first whistle this felt like watching the last minute of a World Cup semi-final extra-time 3-3 draw in 1982. You half expected to see stricken, spindly legged Swiss with socks around their ankles, Serbians in bloodied head bandages, a wild looking referee in black making absurdly theatrical gestures.

Filip Kostic surged down the left recklessly, a footballer who always seems to be fleeing an imaginary swarm of bees. For a while this was Total Serbia, the red shirts simply going forward.

Even before their first attack Switzerland seemed more likely to walk up the other end and score. A thrust down the left found far too much space. Red-shirted defenders fell over in the centre, as though feigning shock. The ball was buried, inevitably, by Shaqiri.

The celebration was a moment of dramatic tension. What, exactly, were we dealing with here? Shaqiri ran toward the Swiss in the stand, legs pounding the turf like a centaur. He went with a finger to the lips, which pretty much counts as an act of grand, healing diplomacy around here.

Mitrovic equalised with a lovely header, buried with the power of a man who has a foot for a head, a thigh for a neck. Serbia went 2-1 up. Hmm. Maybe they’ll just shut up shop from here. Take the air out of … oh. The Swiss made it 2-2, then 3-2.

On his touchline Stojkovic whirled about sweating and frothing in his blue shirt and suit trousers, like an overheated dad at a post-work disco, but Serbia had long since run out of gas.

Gianni Infantino, himself a dedicated politician, has already implored those on the fringes to keep politics out of football at this World Cup. Good luck with that one.

Switzerland advance and Serbia go out as Freuler finish settles stormy contest | World Cup 2022

Perhaps it was naive to think this encounter, which had rattled along without controversy for more than two-thirds of its time, would pass in silence. Switzerland will face Portugal in the last 16 after defeating a freewheeling but painfully naive Serbia side who briefly looked poised to go through after Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic overhauled Xherdan Shaqiri’s opener.

Breel Embolo and Remo Freuler turned things back in their favour, but a night coloured by the context of the Albanian “eagle” celebration deployed by Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka in Kaliningrad four years ago ended stormily. Xhaka was to the fore of more than one flashpoint and there may be consequences, too, for one of the relevant football associations after discriminatory chants were heard in the stands.

It only took 20 minutes for Shaqiri to earn a test of his self restraint. There was no eagle gesture after his first-time shot deflected past Vanja Milinkovic-Savic; instead he contented himself with a finger to the lips, aimed pointedly at the hardcore of Serbia supporters in the nearby corner, before turning around and pointing to the name on his back. It was mildly provocative but, having hitherto been booed whenever in possession, a less incendiary way of making his point.

The goal capped a see-sawing, surreally open start. Within 24 seconds of kick-off Xhaka had received his own chance to show lessons had been learned since 2018, seeing Vanja Milinkovic-Savic recovering to parry his half-volley after blocking from Embolo at close range. Nikola Milenkovic quickly boomed a header wide for Serbia and then, after cleverly cutting inside, their right wing-back Andrija Zivkovic hit a post with the cleanest of 20-yard strikes.

Serbia were committing bodies forward from all angles, the left centre-back Strahinja Pavlovic causing brief havoc with one overlapping run. But they were leaving gaping holes behind them and it was into one that Ricardo Rodríguez marauded, with all the time he needed, down the left. His centre was half-clear but helped by Djibril Sow into the path of Shaqiri, who did the rest.

That was never likely to be the end of it. Within six minutes Dusan Tadic had located Mitrovic’s run with a beautifully flighted cross that was met, delicately but emphatically, with a glanced header across Gregor Kobel. The Switzerland keeper had been drafted in upon Yann Sommer’s illness and, to giddy Serbian celebrations, was soon beaten again.

Switzerland’s Breel Embolo scores his side’s second goal. Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP

This time a cheap concession in midfield let Tadic, in his most beguiling form, attempt a reverse pass through to Vlahovic. With help from a touch by Freuler, it reached the intended target. The Juventus striker, who had been struggling with injury, showed why he was given his first start of the tournament with a precise low finish across a motionless Kobel.

Pavlovic thudded his chest and geed up the crowd after blocking from Ruben Vargas but it never seemed remotely likely Serbia would be able to succeed through sitting on this lead. They are simply not built that way and the point was reinforced just as it appeared they would teeter through to half-time.

Embolo’s second goal of the tournament, converted from inside the six-yard box, was smartly taken but Serbia offered next to no pressure on the ball as play built. Eventually Silvan Widmer crossed precisely from the right, his centre-forward awaiting gleefully, and there was a sense Switzerland would guard their position of strength more jealously this time.

Remo Freuler

It had been exceptional entertainment, fully occupying the crowd at that point. That initially remained the case after the restart, Switzerland turning the screw within three minutes and silencing the majority. Freuler’s left-footed finish, offered to him by a cute flick from Vargas, was crisp and well constructed but again Serbia’s level of vigour in the challenges was at best half-hearted.

Needing two goals, the wit and invention in Serbia’s earlier play now deserted them. Embolo somehow scooped over from a chance to deepen their woe, although VAR may well have ruled him offside, and their efforts towards a quick recovery amounted to little more than a wayward Tadic shot.

Mitrovic flung himself to the floor in search of the penalty, the dive utterly egregious, and the mood turned dark as players from both sides became involved in a disagreement by the left touchline. Xhaka was involved, appearing to grab his genitals and look toward the Serbia bench. The substitute keeper Predrag Rajkovic, was yellow carded in the ensuing melee and Dragan Stojkovic, the Serbia manager, made a brief incursion onto the playing surface.

Serbia could have done with him in his pomp. Back in the here and now they were cooked, the final stages little more than an exercise in playing out time. A tannoy announcement in the 77th minute reminded the fans to refrain from “discriminatory shouts and gestures”; their precise nature was unclear but Fifa were surely prepared well in advance to be occupied by any fallout from this occasion.

It meant a previously enthralling game ended under a shadow, Xhaka and Milenkovic almost coming to blows in a late pile-on. Eagle or no eagle, though, Switzerland have taken flight.

Switzerland and Serbia feel the weight of history before high-stakes clash | World Cup 2022

The flashpoints had been well signposted. When Serbia and Switzerland met in Kaliningrad at Russia 2018 it was clear from the outset that nobody would be fading out quietly. Xherdan Shaqiri’s decision to recognise the land of his birth with a Kosovo flag stitched into the heel of his right boot had warmed a tinderbox that was already well stocked and, when Granit Xhaka celebrated his thudding equaliser by forming an Albanian eagle with his hands, tensions ignited.

Both players repeated the gesture when Shaqiri scored a dramatic late winner that ultimately ensured their side were the ones who reached the last 16; the recriminations were long, loud and ended with Fifa issuing several fines.

Given the teams meet again on Friday with the stakes even higher, it is tempting to wonder just how busy the disciplinary chiefs may find themselves over the weekend. Last time out there remained one group stage game for fates to be confirmed: at Stadium 974 there will be no such leeway and whoever masters the occasion will take it all. Serbia must win and hope Brazil do not down tools against Cameroon; a point will suffice for Switzerland unless Rigobert Song’s players contrive a shock.

Four years ago, hostilities had been publicly stoked, Aleksandar Mitrovic among those to question Shaqiri’s choice of footwear. Serbia refuses to recognise Kosovo as an independent state and encounters with Shaqiri and Xhaka, who both signed a petition to Fifa 10 years ago pledging support for what became the official Kosovan national team, are imbued with added significance on both sides.

Yet much of the buildup to their latest showdown has resembled a convention of the saints. It was clear on Tuesday, when Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Dusan Tadic took questions at Serbia’s Al Arabi training base, that nobody was of a mind to dangle bait.

“There’s no doubt it was big pressure four years ago but we need to focus on football and show we can play better than them,” Tadic said when asked how Serbia would handle the occasion this time. His teammate matched the answer virtually word for word. Neither player expected emotions to run high: the priority was simply to look at themselves.

Switzerland’s Granit Xhaka, left, and Xherdan Shaqiri perform their eagle celebrations against Serbia in 2018. Photograph: Laurent Gilliéron/EPA

Mitrovic struck a similar note, saying: “It was a different game, we’re not thinking about what happened before.”

The problem is that the wider context tends to lurk beneath the surface and undermine any well-scripted words. Serbia are under Fifa investigation for displaying a flag showing Kosovo as part of their country, along with the words “We do not surrender”, in their dressing room before their opening game against Brazil.

That did not go unnoticed in Kosovo, whose minister of culture, youth and sport, Hajrulla Ceku, described the image as “hateful, xenophobic and genocidal”. Kosovo’s football association called it an “aggressive action”. Scars from the horrifying war between local forces and modern-day Serbia, fought in the 1990s, will never fully heal.

Perhaps that is why Serbia, whose rap sheet with the governing bodies is lengthy, have been so intent on message discipline this week. After the match in 2018 their FA was fined £41,000 on account of discriminatory banners and messages from their fans. Their coach at the time, Mladen Krstajic, and then-FA head Slavisa Kokeza also took hits to the wallet for their conduct

Xhaka and Shaqiri received £7,600 fines for their celebrations; the Albanian prime minister, Edi Rama, lent his backing to a “Don’t be afraid of the eagle” crowdfunding initiative that raised enough money to pay them off almost immediately. Two months later, Xhaka, the son of emigrants from Kosovo, promised such a flashpoint “will never happen again”. In some quarters of Switzerland he and Shaqiri were looked upon dimly for focusing their attentions on Kosovo after scoring.

“There’s nothing in the history behind these two games,” Xhaka said this week, echoing his counterparts’ tone. “We are Switzerland, they are Serbia and that’s it. We’re here to play football, as are they.”

As long as that remains a priority, the rewards could be lavish. Switzerland have performed modestly but have grown as an attacking proposition since the last World Cup. Serbia are among the most creative, bewitching sides in the competition. There is pressure on the coach, Dragan Stojkovic, to give Dusan Vlahovic his first start of Qatar 2022 and form a potentially lethal pairing with Mitrovic.

“We’re happy to focus on football tomorrow and respect each other,” said the Switzerland manager, Murat Yakin, adding his voice to the entente. It remains to be seen whether any simmering enmity takes on a life of its own once again.

Casemiro stunner ends Switzerland resistance to fire Brazil into last 16 | World Cup 2022

Brazil’s players limbered up for their second Group G game with a trip to Doha’s Souq Waqif. They emerged unscathed, with wallets still largely intact but, for a long time here, Switzerland threatened to rob Tite’s side of their cloak of invincibility.

Ultimately Casemiro’s wondrous half volley, dispatched with the outside of his right foot, propelled the pre-tournament favourites into the knockout stages but much of the action emphasised precisely why all the pre-match focus had centred on a man who was never going to be able to strut stuff on the pitch.

Neymar divides opinion in Brazil – and not just because of his apparently far right leaning politics – but a well drilled Switzerland provided ample evidence of his importance to Tite’s team. It is no exaggeration to say his ankle injury induced absence was keenly felt.

Tite compensated for the loss of his attacking talisman by advancing Lucas Paquetá into the front three from midfield with Fred joining his Manchester United colleague Casemiro in Brazil’s engine room.

Xherdan Shaqiri has so often been Switzerland’s creative inspiration but his manager, Murat Yakin, could only find the former Liverpool winger – now with Chicago Fire – a place on the bench following an indifferent display in the opening Group G win over Cameroon, preferring Fabian Rieder instead.

Switzerland arrived at Stadium 974 slightly late after being involved in a minor road traffic accident en route from their hotel. It seems the driver of their team bus allowed his mind to wander as traffic near the ground slowed to a crawl and ended up crashing into the back of the police escort car in front. That collision in turn left the vehicle travelling immediately behind Switzerland’s coach unable to brake in time before hitting its back bumper.

Mercifully no one was hurt and, to Brazil’s dismay, Switzerland’s concentration appeared unaffected.

Silvan Widmer had played well against Cameron and Yakin’s right back started well here, taking no time at all to unceremoniously halt a rather offended looked Vinícius Júnior in his tracks.

Although there were some gorgeous cameos of sharp, slick, imaginative and, sometimes gloriously improvisational, one and two touch football from Brazil their final ball initially lacked incision against a deep sitting Switzerland.

Even worse for the massed ranks of yellow shirted Brazil fans packing the 974 there were other interludes when Tite’s players turned a little slapdash and lost their customary fluency.

Yakin’s well structured, efficiently organised, team had been set up to play on the counterattack and their attacking pace sporadically posed Tite’s rearguard a few problems. Indeed Casemiro was a little lucky not to be booked after catching the accelerating Breel Embolo, late from behind.

Brazil celebrate opening the scoring late on against Switzerland. Photograph: Bagu Blanco/Pressinphoto/Shutterstock

With every passing minute Neymar’s value to Brazil seemed incrementally enhanced. Significantly almost half an hour had passed before Yann Sommer was required to make a save.

When, courtesy of Raphinha’s left footed cross from the right, that opening finally arrived, Switzerland’s goalkeeper proved fully equal to the challenge, parrying a slightly scuffed half volley from the unmarked Vinícius Júnior.

It was Brazil’s first shot on target – a statistic that reflected Tite’s players’ struggles to translate possession into actual chances. Sommer cannot have expected to have had so little involvement. Was history about to repeat itself and two countries who had drawn both of their previous World Cup meetings – in 1950 and 2018 – complete a statistical trilogy?

Certainly a mood of mutual respect was emphasised as the first half ended with Embolo, who had just won a corner which had come to nothing, and his marker, Marquinhos embracing warmly as they headed towards the tunnel.

Paquetá did not emerge from it for the second period, having been replaced by Real Madrid’s Rodrygo, a young forward many Brazil fans believed should have deputised for Neymar in the first place.

Before Rodrygo had time to get going, Switzerland nearly scored when Widmer’s cross resulted in Vinícius Júnior blocking Djibril Sow’s goal bound shot.

Although Vinícius Júnior subsequently conjured a lovely, defence deceiving, curving cross, Richarlison could not quite connect with it and the moment was gone.

The time had arrived for change and Tite altered his midfield, replacing Fred with Newcastle’s Bruno Guimarães whose passing and movement immediately began raising the tone and asking Switzerland questions they could not always answer.

It was a pass from Guimarães – albeit slightly over hit – that initiated the sequence of events which led to Vinícius Júnior receiving Casemiro’s pass, riding Nico Elvedi’s challenge and squeezing the ball just inside a post with Sommer beaten.

Casemiro

Brazil’s entire bench raced to the touchline to celebrate but a VAR review spoilt the party after detecting that Richarlison, who played Casemiro in, had been offside. After being integral to last week’s defeat of Serbia, Richarlison had been shunted to the margins by a Swiss defence offered further protection by Granit Xhaka’s central midfield presence.

Yet, as the game worked on, Brazil increasingly stretched Yakin’s defensive elastic. It finally snapped when Casemiro applied the outside of his right boot to the ball and sent a glorious half-volley swerving into the net leaving a wrong footed, static, Sommer – possibly deceived by the gentlest of deflections off Manuel Akanji – helpless.

Switzerland’s World Cup destiny now hinges on their final group game against Serbia.

Brazil look unified and have strength in depth to cope without Neymar | World Cup 2022

Brazil had a decent start to their 2022 World Cup. The first game of the tournament is always a little bit more difficult. An early wrong turn, a miscontrolled ball or a badly placed pass can dictate the story of the game. A team that wants to go on to win the tournament need to realise that and manage the raw emotions and the overall energy of those first minutes. Brazil did that in their 2-0 win against Serbia. But let’s be careful. The three points does not guarantee anything, not even progress to the knockout stage. The players need to know that humility and respect is key here and you can never have too much of that.

Now comes a game against another European competitor, Switzerland. Football is exciting because we will never be able to fully understand it, but a win on Monday and early qualification for the second round is what the coach, Tite, is after. Then he could use the third game to rotate the squad somewhat and try a few different tactical things for the battles ahead.

The win against Serbia was not straightforward. In the first 20 minutes the high and aggressive defending of Dragan Stojkovic’s team put the Seleção in difficulties. It was interesting to see how they dealt with that. The first game of the tournament is always important, but especially so if you are one of the favourites.

Against Serbia Tite’s team did not want to make any mistakes in their defensive third, but this meant that they were not in control of the ball as much from the back as they would have wanted and were therefore unable to properly infiltrate the attacking zone. Brazil are at their best when they can exchange quick passes, create a rhythm and find space for players to attack their opposite numbers one-on-one.

At first this did not happen against Serbia and that is clearly something other opponents will take an interest in. Dusan Tadic had a strong start and that, along with the tight and tough marking, had an impact on Brazil’s confidence. True, Vinícius Júnior and Raphinha had some luck on the flanks but Brazil were not able to do what they do best – keep hold of the ball and work their opponents from side-to-side to create an opening. When everything works Neymar is more of a playmaker than a dribbler, helping Lucas Paquetá and Casemiro to play creatively, and there is support from the full-backs. Against Serbia, Neymar held on to the ball a bit longer, which did not help the star of the second half, Richarlison.

“Pombo”, as Richarlison is known, was isolated among the giant defenders but did not give up and dedicated himself to his work. He kept on being visible and showed the mental strength of someone who has gone through hardships to get where he is. He never stops running and, as a sign of his character and human values, he is a striker who never stops fighting.

Brazil’s Lucas Paquetá in action against Serbia — Lucas Paquetá may be given more licence to play a creative role for Brazil with Neymar out of the team for the match against Switzerland. Photograph: Tolga Bozoğlu/EPA

His reward came in the second half when Serbia were unable to maintain their high defensive line and threat on the counterattack. To play effectively against Brazil you need to have something approaching Spanish standards in possession and Serbia’s players did not have that.

As Brazil asserted themselves the chances started coming and, in the end, Tite’s team were indebted to two goals from Richarlison. The second one, in particular, was stunning but interesting to me was what happened after the striker’s scissor-kick. The en masse celebration was evidence of a group in harmony.

I don’t like the word union. I always say that before union there needs to be an understanding of each player’s responsibility and the celebration indicated to me this team knows what it means to wear the same shirt and have the same goals, whether they are friends or not. Once you understand what football means, how important victory is for the fans, whether in international or club football, then you understand each other’s needs. Egotistical tendencies are put aside for teamwork above all. Hard work will always come before talent and it looks like this Brazil squad has the maturity to understand this.

The main negatives coming out of the Serbia game were the injuries to Neymar and Danilo, who, like the other full-back Alex Sandro, was defensively solid (but it helped that Serbia were not at their best going forward with Sergej Milinkovic-Savic subdued and Filip Kostic not playing).

However, seeing Fred, Rodrygo, Antony, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli coming off the bench indicated Neymar’s absence for the next two games may not be the big problem some people feared. He is, undoubtedly, the star of the team and one of the best players in the world but without him Tite has the option to add another midfielder, such as Fred or possibly Bruno Guimarães, to play in a classic 4-3-3 to free up Paquetá, or keep the same tactical structure to introduce Rodrygo into the team.

To fill Danilo’s vacancy on the right-hand side we will see if Dani Alves was called up as a genuine playing option or as more of a leader and to bring his champion mentality. I think Éder Militão would be a safer choice but, either way, Tite cannot complain; everywhere he looks in his squad there is quality and options. There are four days between games, enough time to make adjustments while also keeping in mind the physical recovery of the players.

Now for the Swiss. Not the most stable of teams defensively, they pose a threat going forward through Granit Xhaka, Xherdan Shaqiri and Breel Embolo. They, like most opponents against Brazil, will play like it is their World Cup final and need to be treated with respect.

Without Neymar the time has come to show the strength of this squad, a squad that Tite has always said is up to any challenge, whatever is thrown at them.

Tite plots gameplan without Neymar as Brazil prepare for Switzerland test | World Cup 2022

Casemiro had a confession. “I sometimes feel sorry for our opponents,” Brazil’s Manchester United midfielder said last week. “We have so many good players.” Considering he was not boasting or exaggerating but merely being candid it may seems something of a surprise that Casemiro’s manager, Tite, his teammate Marquinhos and Tite’s assistant César Sampaio devoted most of a 40-minute media briefing on Sunday to discussing a sidelined forward.

No prizes for guessing that man is Neymar, with question after question concentrating on how Brazil will cope without him against Switzerland on Monday and how a Paris Saint-Germain striker with 75 goals in 122 games for his country could be replaced.

Tite used a lot of words to, engagingly and eruditely, avoid answering both inquiries. “We’ve already decided the starting players but we will only be communicating that right before the game,” said the manager, who could offer no timeframe on when Neymar may return from an ankle ligament injury but expressed confidence the player’s World Cup was not over. “Football’s about context and sometimes we have to be strategic. We have to think outside the box but we’re very confident we have the right replacement.”

Sitting alongside him, Marquinhos repeatedly referred to his manager as “the professor”. Tite, though, was keeping much of his wisdom to himself. He merely smiled when someone asked whether the versatile and richly gifted Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimarães may fill Neymar’s No 10 role between Raphinha and Vinícius Júnior, and just behind Richarlison.

Tite was more forthcoming when asked whether referees should afford greater protection to Neymar, injured after a heavy challenge by Nikola Milenkovic during the opening Group G 2-0 win against Serbia. “If you want to celebrate the football you have to pay attention to the fouls,” the 61-year-old said. “They target specific players and this is the effect. It has to be stopped.”

Many Brazil fans want to see Real Madrid’s 21-year-old attacking prodigy Rodrygo fill the gap vacated by Neymar but others would advance Lucas Paquetá from midfield.

“We can’t stop talking about Neymar,” Casemiro said. “It’s just how important he is to us. He’s our biggest player, the difference for us but we have a lot of other very good players too. Rodrygo, for example, lights up the eyes and delights everyone who sees him play.”

Rodrygo passes the ball for Brazil against Serbia — Many Brazil supporters would like to see Rodrygo come into the first XI. Photograph: Tolga Bozoglu/EPA

After selecting an extremely attacking starting XI against Serbia Tite may turn slightly more conservative at Stadium 974. Although Brazil remain strong favourites, Switzerland succeeded in holding the five-times World Cup winners to a 1-1 draw in the opening game of Russia 2018.

Their manager, Murat Yakin, possesses high-calibre talent of his own in, among others, the creative catalyst Xherdan Shaqiri, the midfield enforcer Granit Xhaka and the Yaoundé-born striker Breel Embolo, scorer in the 1-0 win against Cameroon on Thursday.

Although Embolo is not in Neymar’s league it is easy to find a player who runs his own charity foundation helping Swiss refugees and disadvantaged children in Cameroon infinitely more appealing than Brazil’s talisman. Many Brazilians have been outraged by Neymar’s very public support for the country’s far-right, polarising and outgoing president, Jair Bolsonaro.

The opinion of those who claim Tite’s team are often better balanced without Neymar, who has pledged to dedicate his first goal at Qatar 2022 to Bolsonaro, are frequently coloured as much by politics as tactics. “Neymar doesn’t deserve this,” Casemiro countered. “He has a great heart.”

Tite, meanwhile, expressed regret that Danilo, too, is nursing an injured ankle. The manager declined to identify the Juventus defender’s replacement – although the 39-year-old Dani Alves is widely expected to return at right-back – and indicated a degree of caution could be called for against Switzerland.

“They’re different from Serbia,” he said. “They have very intelligent midfield and forward players; we can still play offensively but in a different manner.”

Once Sampaio started speaking the narrative had resumed a familiar theme. “Neymar’s an extraordinary talent, obviously,” said Tite’s assistant. “But we can rely on our other players; they really are a gift to football. Neymar has the leading role but often, as we see with the movies, someone who is not the protagonist steals the scene.”

Marquinhos agreed. “We wish we could have Neymar and Danilo with us,” the PSG defender said. “But the professor can confirm the talented players we have will maintain our level. Switzerland will give us a run for our money but we can still seal our place in the last 16.”

Breel Embolo’s emotional goal edges Switzerland past wasteful Cameroon | World Cup 2022

Breel Embolo grew up in Basel but he was born in Cameroon’s capital Yaoundé and did not receive Swiss citizenship until eight years ago. It explains why Switzerland’s forward refrained from celebrating one of the simplest, yet potentially most significant, goals he has scored.

In a group also featuring Brazil and Serbia, this was a game Switzerland needed to win and, in the 48th minute, Embolo ensured it would prove mission accomplished.

It was not his fault that his six-yard finish drove a stake through Cameroonian hearts as the chances of their team progressing beyond the group stage for the first time since Italia 90 receded appreciably.

The opening week of Qatar 2022 has showcased plenty of intricate passing, intelligent movement and sometimes kaleidoscopic positional interchanging but Cameroon introduced a retro theme, reminding everyone that crashing balls into the corners has not necessarily had its day. Rigobert Song’s gameplan seemed heavily centred on getting the ball long, early, and, often high, to the Bayern Munich striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.

Xherdan Shaqiri, now with Chicago Fire, was clearly meant to serve as Switzerland’s creative catalyst but his every manoeuvre was heavily shadowed by Cameroon’s left-back Nouhou Tolo. When Shaqiri switched wings he experienced similar treatment from Collins Fai.

The growing realisation that it really wasn’t not Shaqiri’s sort of game dictated that although the Indomitable Lions most definitely did not always get their own way in a central midfield staffed for Switzerland by Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka and Nottingham Forest’s Remo Freuler, Cameroon were frequently free to concentrate on feeding Choupo-Moting.

Cameroon-born Breel Embolo does not celebrate his match-winning goal for Switzerland. Photograph: Carl Recine/Reuters

Murat Yakin had opted to leave Newcastle’s in-form centre-half Fabian Schär on the bench and instead pair Manchester City’s Manuel Akanji and Nico Elvedi at the heart of his back four. Choupo-Moting revelled in subjecting them to a thorough work out, on one occasion flicking the ball beyond Akanji only to end up shooting tepidly at Yann Sommer.

An even better chance arrived when Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo – whose right-sided advances troubled Switzerland – unleashed a shot that Sommer parried into the path of the well-placed Karl Toko Ekambi only for his effort to veer wildly off target.

Cameroon’s tactics may have been straight out of the Sam Allardyce playbook but he enjoyed quite a lot of success as a manager and as Sommer was forced to save again, this time from Martin Hongla, Switzerland looked distinctly unnerved.

By half-time they had barely threatened, failing to record a single effort on target. Yakin would surely have been alarmed to note that Cameroon’s key midfielder, André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, had finished the first 45 minute strongly and increasingly looked capable of disrupting the Freuler-Xhaka axis.

For all Cameroon’s direct, pace-suffused, high-pressing full-back-propelled counterattacking, their defence looked a bundle of nerves on those, admittedly strictly rationed, occasions Switzerland delivered the ball into their area.

From one such incursion, in the 45th minute, they should really have scored but Akanji made a mess of an inviting header after connecting with Freuler’s corner.

Maybe that miss served to galvanise Switzerland as they emerged for the second half showing off an altogether slicker, sharper passing game and were swiftly reward as Embolo opened the scoring.

With the defence apparently having lost concentration Shaqiri was finally permitted to capitalise on smart approach work from Xhaka and Freuler and send a low cross curving towards the similarly unattended Monaco forward. All that remained was for Embolo to stroke the ball home from six yards before that impassive reaction.

It was Switzerland’s first shot on target and, admittedly only for a short while, the African drums and vuvuzelas – which had been making quite a noise on the Doha metro from as early as 9am – fell silent.

The soundtrack had resumed by the time Anguissa’s superb interception prevented Embolo from scoring again and then André Onana kept Cameron in the contest courtesy of a fabulous diving save from Ruben Vargas.

Generally though Switzerland were defending deep and, with Choupo-Moting a shadow of his first half self, Cameroon could find no way through their barricades.

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