Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino scored the crucial goal as Brazil labored to a 1-0 win over a well-organized, but limited Venezuela in their World Cup qualifier on Friday.
Firmino broke the deadlock on 66 minutes in Sao Paulo, poaching a goal after Venezuela defender Darwin Machis’ attempt to clear an Everton Ribeiro cross fell to him a few meters out.
Firmino’s 16th goal in 47 appearances for the Selecao was enough to maintain their 100 percent record in the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup.
Photo: AFP
Brazil have already beaten Bolivia (5-0) and Peru (4-2), and top the South American qualifying table with Argentina second.
Venezuela, who lost their first two qualifiers, were set up to contain and held Brazil scoreless at halftime in a deserted Morumbi Stadium.
The hosts missed the injured Neymar’s creativity in midfield, but even with an attack sporting Firmino, Gabriel Jesus and Richarlison, they could find no way through the mass Venezuelan defense in the first half.
Photo: AFP
Richarlison did have the ball in the net early on, but the Everton striker’s celebrations were cut short when Firmino was adjudged to have been narrowly offside in the buildup.
For all of Brazil’s pressing, Wuilker Farinez had little enough to do in the Venezuela goal, but the goalkeeper made a flying save to beat away a bouncing shot from Firmino just before the half-hour mark, the Liverpool striker heading the resulting corner well wide.
With 75 percent possession, but short of ideas in attack, most of Brazil’s threat came from the left and it was from there they worked their best chance on 32 minutes, Atletico Madrid’s Renan Lodi whipping in a cross that Jesus and then Richarlison, at full stretch, failed to turn in to a gaping goal.
Photo: Reuters
Venezuela’s only threat came from a break up the left wing by Yeferson Soteldo, whose cross for Salomon Rondon was hacked away by Marquinhos.
Rondon, formerly of West Bromwich Albion and now plying his trade for Chinese Super League club Dalian Professional, otherwise cut an isolated figure when not busy with defensive duties.
Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson, who hardly touched the ball during the whole match, reacted quickly to scramble the ball away when Rondon briefly threatened the Brazil goal at the death.
Photo: AFP
Venezuela’s Corinthians star Romulo Otero wasted Venezuela’s only other real chance when he fired a 25m free-kick over Ederson’s bar in injury time.
Brazil coach Tite will have seen how sorely his side missed Neymar’s invention.
The Paris Saint-Germain star, who sustained a thigh injury in a Champions League match last month, is also set to miss Tuesday’s match against Uruguay in Montevideo.
Venezuela are to host a resurgent Chile in Caracas on Tuesday.
Jose Peseiro’s side are likely to maintain their uncomfortable record of being the only South American team never to qualify for a World Cup.
Elsewhere, Uruguay scored a comfortable 3-0 win away against Colombia and Chile defeated Peru 2-0 in Santiago.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but