Brazil delivered the most convincing performance of Carlo Ancelotti’s reign so far as they overcame some challenging conditions to thrash South Korea 5-0 in sodden Seoul, with Real Madrid’s Rodrygo starring on his return to the squad. After an underwhelming start to his tenure, the Italian tactician will be a much happier man as the Selecao’s World Cup preparations begin in earnest.
In torrential rain, Ancelotti’s side seized control of proceedings from the first whistle and didn’t have to wait long to take the lead. Bruno Guimaraes’ exquisite through ball dissected the Korean defence to find Estevao, and the Chelsea youngster fired an unerring first-time finish into the roof of the net from close range.
Brazil seized control of proceedings from the first whistle and didn’t have to wait long to take the lead. Bruno Guimaraes’ exquisite through ball dissected the Korean defence to find Estevao, and the Chelsea youngster fired an unerring first-time finish into the roof of the net from close range.
The Selecao continued to dominate the first period, and after Eder Militao had sent a bullet header millimetres over the bar, they doubled their advantage when Vinicius Junior, Casemiro and Rodrygo combined wonderfully, with the latter dropping his shoulder before finding the bottom corner.
Any hopes the buoyant home crowd had of a second-half comeback were swiftly extinguished within five minutes of the restart as South Korea capitulated. First, Estevao pounced on a horrendous error from Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae for his second, and moments later another giveaway led to the ball being put on a plate for Rodrygo to bag a brace of his own and make it 4-0.
That two-goal salvo ended the game as a contest, but there was still plenty of time for Vinicius to add a fifth as he latched onto a fine pass from Matheus Cunha, sat a defender down and prodded a finish beyond the stranded goalkeeper.
