Brazil thrashes Bolivia 4-0 at the start of its path to the World Cup with interim coach

They face each other for the second day in Belem

The first date of these South American Qualifiers that will mark the region’s qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States closes at the Estadio Olimpico do Pará in the Brazilian city of Belém: local Brazil hosts Bolivia.

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The offensive proposal of coach Fernando Diniz was visible with Raphinha, Neymar, Rodrygo and Richarlison positioned in the last meters against an opponent retreated to the back with few incursions into foreign territory. After isolated approaches, the clearest came at 16 minutes with a missed penalty at Ney’s feet. The new Al-Hilal reinforcement made a weak shot contained by Guillermo Viscarra. Eight later, a succession of touches gave Canarinha the first goal of the game. Rodrygo capitalized on a bad rejection to unblock a tough start by pushing the ball against the fence.

What followed the celebration was an absolute ordeal. With the 10 field players on Bolivian soil, Verdeamarela put pressure on them to widen the difference and, little by little, they transformed Viscarra into a figure, who had phenomenal covers against Richarlison and Neymar himself, the latter having left four opponents behind. path. The star recovered from missing a maximum penalty to show the best version of him in the remainder of the match. Two minutes into the match, the genius rubbed the lamp again with an assist to Raphinha for the second goal.

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At 7′ into the final half, Scratch definitively demolished Bolivia’s illusions with a pass to Rodrygo’s net. It took four minutes to confirm the goal due to a call from the VAR, by Paraguayan Carlos Benítez, to his compatriot Juan Benítez for a non-existent obstruction of a defender. With the return of action, Neymar was in charge of scoring the fourth, which was not just another one in his career: he surpassed Pelé as the team’s all-time top scorer with his 78th goal.

It should be remembered that this team’s main absence is the Real Madrid attacker, Vinicius Jr.. After being initially called up, a muscle problem sidelined him from his debut in the Qualifiers. In his replacement, Barcelona winger from Spain, Raphinha, took his place. In addition, Gabriel Jesus replaced Antony on the payroll, who was left on the sidelines after being reported for gender violence by his ex-partner.

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On the other hand, Alisson (Liverpool) and Ederson (Manchester City), Marquinhos (PSG), Casemiro (Manchester United), Richarlison (Tottenham) and the new star of Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia, Neymar Jr., were the most conveners on the announced list.

Diniz is in charge of the team in these first steps towards the 2026 World Cup, but from the highest body of Brazilian football they have already clarified that it will be a one-year contract for him to command the interim. The rumors are clear: Carlo Ancelotti should take charge of Verdeamarela after ending his relationship with Real Madrid in mid-2024. The detail is that Diniz, meanwhile, remains on the substitute bench for Fluminense, which he will face at the end of September to Inter de Porto Alegre for the Copa Libertadores.

On the other side there is a team that arrives in a total crisis of its local football and that tries under the command of Argentine Gustavo Costas to abstract itself from that chaotic context. The coach summoned 48 players ahead of a start full of complications against Brazil as a visitor and Argentina as a home team.

Obviously, among so many names is Marcelo Moreno Martins, La Verde’s historic scorer, with 31 goals, who also equaled Ronald Raldes as the player with the most appearances in his country’s team with 102 duels. The objective? To qualify for a World Cup again almost three decades after arriving in the United States in 1994.

After the premiere, Costas’ team will host Argentina next Tuesday, September 12 at the Hernando Siles Stadium in La Paz from 5 p.m. and the Brazilians will meet Peru that same day to conclude the day’s activity.

TRAINING

Brazil: Ederson, Danilo, Marquinhos, Gabriel Magalhães, Renan Lodi, Casemiro, Bruno Guimaraman, Neymar, Rodrigo, Raphinha and Richarlison. DT: Fernando Diniz.

Bolivia: William Viscarra; Jairo Quinteros, Adrian Jusino, Marcelo Suarez; Diego Medina, Diego Bejarano, Boris Cespedes, Roberto Fernandez, Gabriel Villamil; Jaime Arrascaita and Marcelo Moreno Martins. DT: Gustavo Costas

Stadium: Pará Olympic Stadium (Brazil)

Referee: John Benitez (Paraguay) / VAR: Carlos Benitez (Paraguay)

Television: TyC Sports (Argentina) / Vix Premium (Mexico) / RCN and Gol Caracol (Colombia) / DirecTV Sports (South America) / SporTV and Rede Globo (Brazil) / Tigo Sports (Bolivia) / Movistar Deportes (Peru)

POSITIONS TABLE

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