FIFA WC 2018: Five reasons why Brazil failed to breach Swiss fort

Add as a preferred source on Google

Bengaluru, June 18: The brilliant Brazil that everyone want to see were missing for large part from the park against Switzerland on Sunday (June 17) during a Group E clash.

What we had was a team sparkled only in isolation but on the other hand Switzerland was nippy and made Brazil pay heavily for their slouch-coach game. The Europeans walked away with a highly deserving 1-1 draw. MyKhel takes a look at the key takeaways from the match.

FIXTURES | BRAZIL HELD | READ IN KANNADA

1 Where was Neymar and Jesus?

Neymar made a hopeful return from a broken foot that he suffered while playing for Paris Saint Germain, scoring the friendlies against Austria and Croatia. But against Switzerland, the Brazil star looked sleepwalking. He was marked heavily by the Swiss and struggled to go past Valon Behrami. Neymar falling down on the ground was a frequent sight on Sunday night. He needs to find his range quickly for Brazil to make a serious charge for the trophy.

Similarly, Jesus, who started ahead of Roberto Firmino, looked out of sorts and hardly had a shy at the goal. Tite replaced Jesus with Firmino with some 15 minutes left in the game but that was too late to make any real impact.

2 Sitting back after the first goal

Brazil went into the lead in the 20th minute through a Philippe Coutinho goal. Instead of pressing the advantage home, Brazil sat back and allowed Switzerland enough space to stitch constant raids into their territory. Several times Swtizerland won the midfield battle for ball and the Brazil defenders had to work overtime to blunt them.

3 Poor finishing

A line-up consisting Neymar, Jesus and Coutinho should be a nightmare for rival defence. But on Sunday, they collectively failed to make any impression. There were some isolated moments of brilliance fro Neymar and Coutinho but Paulinho, Firmino, Miranda and Fernandinho lacked the poise to convert those chances. The shot accuracy of Brazil on the night stood at an abysmal 21%.

4 Lone bright spot

Coutinho was the most threatening of all Brazil players on Sunday. The Barcelona man scored Latin American's only goal - a gorgeous 20-feet drive that crashed into the far right corner of the net. It was a moment of beauty that Coutinho often creates for his club side but on this day there was no follow-up though.

5 The Swiss wall

Switzerland had their strategy right in place. They never tried to match Brazil's attacking riches. But followed a simpler policy of choking their opponent's headliner - Neymar. Once the PSG forward was negated, Brazil needed a Plan B to find goals but Jesus too was in a tight Swiss embrace.

They gave no room or respite for Brazil players and at some stages Switzerland had nearly 10% more possession than Brazil.