Brazil obtains a difficult and painful victory against Venezuela

An error. A small mistake by Darwin Machís was the key to giving Brazil a difficult and painful victory against Venezuela flawless in his defensive work. Wrong refusal of the central of Granada at 67 ‘, which Firmino did not forgive, will leave Vinotinto with a bitter taste because it narrowly missed the opportunity to go home with a precious point after neutralizing the creative system of the canarinha for almost 90 minutes.

Portuguese coach José Peseiro studied Tite’s Brazil well and came in with an ultra defensive plan that had worked on several occasions against Canarinha: a very low line of five defending players and another of four almost on the line of the area. Tite has spoken on several occasions of his concern to break the compact lines of five defenses. For this he changed his system from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1 where the double pivot gives him the alternative of attacking with 4 players plus a fifth element of surprise on his sides.

This Friday against Venezuela, Brazil came on the attack with nine players hovering around the rival area. Thiago Silva was the only player not to advance, sitting in the center circle in case something strange happened. With the red bus parked outside the door, Tite’s team tried in every way to find a hole allowing him to create a real scoring opportunity. But he lost the magic of Neymar and Coutinho – injured – in the midfielder.

The little that Brazil has created came from the left, from the pieces of Renan Lodi, who practically served as a winger for practically the whole game. At 8 ‘the Atlético team came close to a great goal, after having dominated with great quality a long pass on the left side of the area and finished powerfully. Great save from Farínez but rejected at the feet of Richarlison who does not forgive and realizes what could have been the 1-0, not the millimeter of Lodi’s offside at the beginning of the game, identified by the VAR. Lodi returns to action with a perfect cross from Gabriel Jesus, who hits Richarlison in the small area, who misses incredibly half a meter from the empty goal.

Faced with the immobility of his team, Tite has removed one of his two midfielders, Douglas Luiz, to include an attacking midfielder, Lucas Paquetá. And with the young Lyon player on the pitch, Brazil won another gear and changed the speed of the match. More reactive and aggressive, Canarinha’s team increased the pressure and were more vertical and objective. With Lodi and Paquetá at the helm of the creative work, Firmino, Gabriel Jesus and Richarlison tried to break through the Venezuelan barrier, but without success. And they were barely able to generate clear scoring chances against a Venezuelan defensive system that seemed adamant.

It took a small mistake, on Machís’ part, for Brazil to have the long-awaited opportunity they had been looking for for 67 minutes. The footballer from Granada jumped between two strikers to try to repel a ball raised from the right of the head and ended up rejecting at the feet of Firmino who, between three rivals and the goalkeeper, in the small area, finished first to put an end to the green anguish I love it.

Brazil thus achieved three wins in three games and led the qualifying rounds alone with nine points, two more than Argentina. Venezuela is last along with Bolvia, both with three defeats. La Vinotinto host Chile on Tuesday and Brazil face Uruguay in Montevideo.