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Brazil stuns defiant Costa Rica with late Coutinho winner

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Costa Rica has developed a reputation for frustrating even the toughest of teams, and Los Ticos did it once again on Friday against Brazil. However, it wasn’t enough as Brazil sealed victory with a stoppage time winner.

Neymar and Brazil were repeatedly frustrated on Friday as Los Ticos were moments away from grinding their way to a 0-0 draw. However, a goal from Philippe Coutinho in stoppage time as well as an insurance finish from Neymar pushed Brazil to a late 2-0 victory, their first of this World Cup.

With the win, Brazil sits on four points through two games while Costa Rica’s tournament is all but over with the team’s second loss.

Coutinho’s goal came in the first of six minutes of stoppage time on a beautiful sequence from Brazil. That sequence ended with a Gabriel Jesus layoff and a perfect Coutinho shot, beating a standout Keylor Navas.

Neymar tacked on another in the 97th minute, tapping home a Douglas Costa pass to seal all three points.

Brazil was far and away the more attacking team, as could be expected. The South American powerhouses dominated a bulk of the possession and created a majority of the chances only to be repeatedly thwarted by Keylor Navas.

The Costa Rica goalkeeper made big save after big save with a majority of his stops coming in the second half. Navas was called into action early, following a punch with a save in the 48th minute while the Real Madrid star also pushed away a strong Coutinho shot away after Jesus fired a header off the crossbar.

Late in the match, video review came into play as Neymar was taken down in the box but, after an original ruling of no penalty, VAR confirmed the decision as play went on.

When all was said and done, Brazil was a deserved winner, out-shooting Los Ticos, 20-3, on the day.

Next up for Costa Rica is a match against Switzerland while Brazil closes the group stage against Serbia.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Keylor Navas was once again the star making eight saves, even if there was nothing he could do on either the Coutinho or Neymar finishes.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Coutinho’s stoppage time goal capped off what was a frustrating game from Brazil, but one which saw them earn all three points.

MATCH TO FORGET

Costa Rica’s defense was once again incredible, but the attacking duo of Bryan Ruiz and Johan Venegas struggled to connect that defense with the attack.

Comments

  1. A lot of the Top Teams have been SUSPECT and EXPOSED in this World Cup? by smaller no name Teams (I guess that’s the beauty of the World Cup?).

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    • “Brazil?? stuns defiant Costa Rica??….” Am I reading this wrong? I mean,how can Brazil STUN Costa Rica??…..??!!!

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  2. Gone are the days where Brazil plays “joga bonito”. You would think a team with the quality of Brazil wouldn’t have to resort to dives and flops. Brazil not impressive at all, kind of like Argentina. Seems like those teams rely on their star player to do something special.

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