itsbeautifuloutside

The huge bowl of the Estadio Nacional was a mass of yellow as the teams took to the field. Cameroon wore green and red which made it the most colourful match to date. They sang a passable anthem before, it seemed, the whole of Brazil joined in to deliver both verses of the hosts anthem.

Brazil began at a frenzied pace. An early Neymar free kick was cleared but back they came, almost walking in an opener. Fred and Paulinho had chances but a corner was their only reward. The corner was rubbish, setting an unfortunate trend for the evening. It was all Brazil for 5 minutes but eventually Cameroon ventured forward with the lively Aboubakar speeding down the left wing. He was closed down and lost possession. Hulk then played in Fred who won a corner. This one went straight to the keeper’s gloves. Brazil seemed intent on missing out midfield entirely. Luiz kept pinging diagonal passes over the top of Bedimo where Hulk raced onto them. Given the number of times they tried this ploy, they were obviously expecting greater reward. A rare attack down the left saw Marcelo run the ball out of play.

On 10 minutes Cameroon fashioned a decent chance ending with Bedimo’s goal-bound shot being blocked by Marcelo on the line. Cameroon had survived the initial onslaught and were now showing greater ambition. Brazil defenders were obliged to head crosses away or block them at source. Then Marcelo broke upfield and Enoh fouled him, receiving the first yellow card. A foul by Gustavo on 14 mins gave Moukandjo the chance to hit a free-kick into Brazil’s box but it cleared everyone and was fielded by Cesar. Brazil then moved upfield and as Neymar chased a ball out of play, Nyom shoved him into a bank of photographers. Incredibly, the referee took no action.

Neymar did act however. Gustavo recovered the ball deep in the Cameroon half. He advanced down the left and hit a sweet pass into the middle. With Cameroon’s defence AWOL, Neymar let the ball run across him before side-footing it neatly into the corner. 1-0 Brazil. A nation celebrated - vigorously.

Brazil soon came close to doubling that lead. Another diagonal ball found Hulk charging down the right. This time his cross was good and Itandje made a good block when Neymar’s beautifully struck volley came his way. Brazil were also making good progress down the left and a minute later Paulinho presented Fred with another scoring chance but Bedimo made a timely block and his keeper grabbed the loose ball.

Despite this pressure Cameroon were still looking to get forward themselves. I like the look of Aboubakar: he went right through a Luiz tackle (in the manner of Matt Le Tiss) but the calmer Thiago shepherded the ball to safety. More right wing route-one saw Hulk running by his man again. Everyone in the stadium witnessed the blatant trip on him apart from the ref who waved play-on.

Cameroon then mounted a series of attacks. From the first, Enoh’s mishit shot deflected off a defender and looped over Cesar who was rooted. It narrowly missed his goal. Matip rose to meet the corner and his header deflected away for another corner. From this cross the ball ended up on Cameroon’s left where Nyom easily rounded Alves. He fired a low cross behind Brazil’s statuesque defenders for the unmarked Matip to tap in. 1-1.

Brazil looked to get forward again but Fred’s lack of movement saw moves grind to a halt. Cameroon were looking more confident now. Their passes were crisper and they began to press Brazil’s midfielders, getting the ball back higher up the park. Pressure on Marcelo forced him to slice the ball off for a corner. Then Nyom joined the attack again – another shot, another corner. Soon after, Choupo Moting headed wide. The home fans were noticeably quieter. The carnival atmosphere of the start was gone and you could sense the tension from this side of the Atlantic.

I have enormous respect for Pele (I saw him play don’tcha know). He has however said some damn fool things, such as “2014 will be the first ever World Cup where Brazil’s defence is better than their attack”. On about the half-hour mark I found myself questioning that remark. Dani Alves and Marcelo are not proper full-backs. They are at best wing-backs but in a 4 man defence their defensive qualities are regularly exposed. Granted Thiago Silva is a proper defender and often redeems seemingly hopeless situations. Alongside him, David Luiz is a decent footballer but, like the full backs, he is not what I call an international class defender. I wrote “free form” defending in my notes. They look horribly disorganised when Cameroon attack and seem to rely on individual acts of heroism to stop the opponents. It just ain’t right!

As if to underline the vacuousness of Pele’s remark, Brazil then went up the other end and scored a cracking goal. Brazil recovered possession, Marcelo fed Neymar and the #10 cut in from the left and hit a crisp shot into the corner no-one was expecting him to aim for. 2-1. Neymar brace! Moments later, Hulk fired in a fierce shot, saved and away for a corner. Another awful corner too – hit beyond all-comers and out for a goal kick.

Cameroon were still getting upfield. On 38 mins, Choupo Moting fired a shot into the side netting. In the background, the fans were doing an anticlockwise Mexican wave. What is that all about? There followed another period of possession swapping in the middle of the park. Twice Luiz tried to carry the ball forward, twice he lost it. The first time he was rescued by Thiago, the second he tripped Enoh. Again Thiago was on hand to clear the free kick. In a frantic couple of minutes, Brazil created and missed two very respectable chances for Hulk. The first saw him fail to control the ball, the second at least required Itandje to make a save. HT 2-1.

Fernandinho replaced Paulinho for the 2nd half and Brazil were right at it again. Hulk surged past his defender, took a massive swing at the ball, missed and fell on his arse. Oh dear. Undeterred he was soon back attacking. He seemed to be tripped by Bedimo but the pundits reckoned “great tackle”. Moments later Fred hit a firm shot on target, tipped round for a corner.

On 48 mins Enoh hacked down Neymar. That deserved a 2nd yellow but it wasn’t shown. Neymar’s free kick was tipped over the bar. The corner was cleared but Brazil quickly recovered possession. Fernandinho fed the overlapping Luiz whose cross was met at the back stick by Fred. He headed it in. 3-1. ITV then provided another example of why they should never be let near live sport. They put up a still with a line drawn on the pitch to show Fred was offside. The line went from where Luiz was stood and Fred was indeed in front of that line. Unfortunately the imbeciles in ITV’s back office do not know the offside rule. The ball was a good yard in front of Luiz before he wrapped his foot round it and Fred was behind the ball. Give me strength!!!

On 56 mins Hulk had another chance to shine. With Neymar running to his left he kept the ball too long and defenders closed in. It ended with a nothing shot. Neymar must have been furious. Then Cameroon brought on Salli. There was another of the frequent midfield muddles where neither side could progress. This ended when a long ball towards Brazil’s penalty was headed vertically upwards by Luiz. Fortunately Cesar was alert and claimed the ball as it dropped.

Hulk was replaced by Ramires. Brazil continued to defend in a haphazard fashion with the full-backs hardly ever on the right side of whoever they ought to be marking. Neymar continued to provide the main threat for the hosts. On 66 he latched onto a Ramires cross but was offside. On 70 he began another run but went down heavily. Brazil were about to bring on Willian – Big Phil decided to bring off his limping star man. Cameroon replaced the young Aboubakar with the aged Webo.

The last 20 minutes had added interest as Mexico began racking up goals against the Croats. At one point they were level on goal difference. Finishing 2nd would mean playing Holland at the weekend. Cameroon had got away with some dodgy tackles but Mbia’s on Gustavo on 79 mins finally got the yellow card it deserved. Then, inexplicably Cameroon handed Brazil a 4th goal. Oscar was caught offside. The free kick was rolled forward casually and Fernandinho pounced. He played the ball into Fred and continued his run. Fred found Oscar who laid the ball back to Fernandinho who prodded it into the far corner. Awful defending from Cameroon, beautiful passing from Brazil: 4-1 here and a late goal from Croatia determined Brazil would top Group A.

In the final minutes Willian got a shot on target, saved by Itandje. Cameroon’s last shot sailed wide. The crowd were able to relax during 4 minutes added time and even began chanting “Olé” every time a Brazilian touched the ball.

4-1 looks comfortable. It was hardly that. Yet Brazil go forward to face Chile at the weekend. The hosts have hardly been convincing, but they are still there and you have to be in it to win it.

Cameroon now fly home. Ultimately they were a disappointment.