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By Matthew Davis
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Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti led his team to a 2-1 comeback victory and avoided a mammoth World Cup upset in the process.
Japan held a 1-0 lead at halftime, following Kaishu Sano’s goal in the 29th minute at NRG Stadium in Houston on Monday. Ancelotti didn’t doubt his team would turn things around in the second half despite a subpar start by the World Cup titan, winners of five championships.
“At half-time I told the players to be patient because sooner or later we would score,” Ancelotti told reporters afterward. “What was important was to keep our structure. We know we’re going down the right path, and we have to continue on this path.”
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Brazil eventually tied the match 1-1 when Casemiro scored in the 56th minute, but the match stayed deadlocked until extra time. The Brazilians looked just a poised to see the upset happen versus pulling off a comeback win.
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That’s despite Brazil possessing the ball 69% of the time and outshooting Japan 7-2. Brazil simply looked like a team that couldn’t put away the Japan squad, and miss the Round of 16 for the first time since 1966.
“At first we were trying to achieve superiority in midfield, to infiltrate,” Ancelotti said. “It didn’t work because their marking was really tight. They were really closed off.”
“We changed at the interval to try to penetrate their area a little more,” Ancelotti added. “We crossed some balls and got forward better, so this is an evolution. We struggled to find space at first but we were able to solve this problem very well.”
Brazil found a way, and Gabriel Martinelli popped in a goal off the post in the fifth minute of extra time. The Brazilians held off Japan after that and escaped.
Brazil can rest until Sunday for the Round of 16, but another upstart national team will await to knockoff the game’s winningest country. The winner between Norway and Ivory Coast on Tuesday will draw Brazil next.
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