Brazil 1-1 Morocco: Vinicius Junior salvages draw for Seleção in World Cup opener
A moment of pure Vinicius Junior magic salvaged a point for Brazil as they fought back to secure a 1-1 draw against a relentless Morocco side in a pulsating World Cup Group C opener in East Rutherford.
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Carlo Ancelotti’s side, missing the injured Neymar, were thoroughly outplayed in a frantic opening 45 minutes by the African champions. Morocco’s intense pressing and fluid midfield, marshalled expertly by Brahim Diaz, repeatedly exposed a ponderous Brazilian spine. The Atlas Lions got the breakthrough their early dominance deserved in the 21st minute. Real Madrid’s Diaz unlocked the Seleção defence with an exquisitely weighted through ball into the path of Ismael Saibari, who timed his run perfectly to lift a delightful, first-touch chip over the on-rushing Alisson.
Brazil looked visibly shaken by the tempo and the partisan Moroccan crowd, but their individual brilliance provided a lifeline just past the half-hour mark. Fed deep on the left wing by Bruno Guimarães, Vinicius Junior drove inside the penalty area, skipped past Achraf Hakimi, and unleashed a thunderous, curling right-footed effort that flew beyond the helpless Yassine Bounou into the top corner.
The frantic pace gave way to a far cagier second half as heavy humidity took its toll on both sets of players. Lucas Paquetá saw an acrobatic volley kept out by Bounou, while Raphinha failed to capitalise on a dangerous Vinicius cut-back.
Morocco looked content to manage the clock in the closing stages but almost snatched a dramatic winner nine minutes into stoppage time. Neil El Aynaoui’s fierce long-range strike forced Alisson into a diving save, and the Liverpool goalkeeper reacted superbly to smother Ayoube Amaimouni’s follow-up attempt on the rebound.
While both managers will take solace in avoiding defeat in the tournament’s first true heavyweight clash, Ancelotti will leave New Jersey with plenty of tactical questions ahead of matches against Scotland and Haiti. Morocco, meanwhile, proved once again that their historic run in Qatar was no fluke.
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