”Uruguay responded in the 43rd, when Godín rose high to thump a header toward goal, only to see it bang tantalizingly off the left post. The Uruguayans may have felt disappointed not to get more from their star-studded squad, which includes several players making their World Cup debuts, like Darwin Núñez, who plays for Liverpool, and Frederico Valverde, who has been sharp this season for Real Madrid. Núñez cut inside with the ball in the 81st minute and glared determinedly at goal, but he drilled his curling shot wide of the right post. About eight minutes later, Valverde drilled a shot from the outside the box that crashed into the left post, leaving the entire goal shaking. On the South Korean side, meanwhile, all eyes were trained on Son, who had surgery earlier this month to repair a fractured bone in his face that had threatened his participation in the tournament.
Neymar, of course, is the star of the Brazil’s show, the player that plenty of those flooding into the Lusail had come to see — his name, when the teams were read out before the game, was greeted by a cheer roughly twice as loud as anyone else — but he is, unlike in the previous iterations of the Seleçao that have dotted his career, not alone. Kai Pfaffenbach/ReutersNelson Almeida/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesAmanda Perobelli/ReutersAnne-Christine Poujoulat/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesJustin Setterfield/Getty ImagesKai Pfaffenbach/ReutersAndrej Isakovic/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesDado Galdieri for The New York TimesNatacha Pisarenko/Associated PressAmr Abdallah Dalsh/ReutersAndrej Isakovic/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesMoises Castillo/Associated Press On one side, he has Júnior, the gleaming future of Real Madrid, already the scorer of the winning goal in a Champions League final, and on the other Raphinha, a man valuable enough that Barcelona mortgaged a good portion of its future to sign him last summer.
The early suggestions had it that the Paris St. -Germain forward had suffered a sprain, but a nation found itself on tenterhooks. No matter how glistening the alternatives, no matter how enviable Brazil’s strength in depth, this remains a team constructed around and on behalf of Neymar. It is on his shoulders that the country’s hopes of the crown lie.
And the star of that show, without doubt, is Neymar. ImageCredit... Neil Hall/EPA, via ShutterstockNov. 24, 2022, 1:32 p. ET 3 Portugal Ghana ImageCredit... Carl Recine/ReutersDOHA, Qatar — The eyes were drawn to Cristiano Ronaldo, even more than normal. Fans poured into Stadium 974 to cheer him and the Portugal team he has led for a generation. But mostly him. There may be no more ubiquitous jersey in soccer than Ronaldo’s No.
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Brazil Breaks Through With a Flourish; Ronaldo Scores in Fifth World CupNov. 28, 2022, 10:39 a. m. ETOn Soccer 2 Brazil 0 Serbia LUSAIL, Qatar — Not all goals sound the same. Sometimes, the noise they generate is one of joy, giddy and delighted. Sometimes, it is more guttural, not so much a celebration as a growl of defiance. At others, it is a sough of grateful relief. And very occasionally, it is something different: not an exhalation but a drawing of the breath.
7, and on Thursday a good portion of that laundry seemed to have congregated inside a temporary arena dropped between a port and the highway to Doha’s international airport. As much as anything, Portugal fans wanted to see what Ronaldo would do next — and maybe last. He is 37 now, and suddenly unemployed, having chain-sawed a burning bridge with Manchester United this month.
24, 2022, 1:43 p. ET Rory SmithNo question at all who the crowd at Lusail has come to see this evening. The names of Serbia’s players were greeted with polite applause. So, too, those of the Brazil team. Right up until we got to Neymar, when the whole stadium seemed to shake. He’s the player Brazilians believe can deliver a sixth World Cup, of course, but he’s also a star of considerable gravity to the relative neutrals here. Brazil games are always a patchwork of nationalities; it is, after all, soccer’s greatest show, and people want to see it whether they’re invested in how the team does or not.
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For every explosion of offense (see: England, France, Spain) and every underdog stunner (see: Saudi Arabia, Japan), there are games whose appeal might be more narrowly confined to the connoisseurs and the purists. Consider the opening match in the World Cup’s Group H on Thursday night, where Uruguay and South Korea sparred to a scoreless draw in front of 41, 663 fans at Education City Stadium. The teams circled each other before a happily buzzing crowd, sizing each other up. But neither delivered a deciding blow. Neither fan base will be crushed by the result, either.
(The kind of guy you meet in Brazil. ) He was leaning against a silver Chevrolet sedan, his 6-year-old son on his shoulders, watching a bar’s televisions. Then Brazil nearly scored again, “The trend is to get better, ” after a goal, he said. Moments later, Richarlison scored again with an acrobatic volley goal. “Que golaço, ” he said in Portuguese. Or, in English, “What a magnificent goal. ”Nov. 24, 2022, 2:06 p. ETCredit...
When Edinson Cavani entered midway through the second half, he, too, joined the four World Cup club. The match was played to the ceaseless drumbeat of a small but vocal group of South Korean fans, decked in bright red, in one of the corners of the stadium. The Uruguayans chimed in periodically from the opposite corner. Those fans — and any neutrals — were subjected to a cagey tactical battle, with South Korea working quickly, crocheting short passing sequences up the field and side to side, controlling possession until the second half, when they assumed a more defensive perspective. Uruguay, meanwhile, seemed content all night to slow the game down, to defend calmly in a low block, to pick moments to charge up the field with its fearsome stable of attackers.
The fight has left Ronaldo’s reputation and career exit in flux. But nothing can repair an image and spackle a legacy like the World Cup. The ball, and the game, revolved around Ronaldo, not unexpectedly. And when the scoreless match needed an uncorking midway through the second half, it was Ronaldo, of course, who did the honors. His penalty kick just after the hour mark sent Portugal on its way to what became — after an overflow of late goals — an uneasy 3-2 victory. 24, 2022, 7:28 a. ET Uruguay South Korea ImageCredit... Pavel Golovkin/Associated PressAL RAYYAN, Qatar — Not every World Cup game will be a blockbuster.
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A point each in the opener, with Portugal awaiting both teams later in the first round, can be a fine way to start a tournament. “Neither team wants to lose points and it was a very calculated game in the end, ” Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani said. “If you don’t free it up in the first few minutes, it became a game like that: physical, hard, little space, little chances. Uruguay was favored. It brought an experienced team to Qatar, including Martin Caceres, Diego Godín and Luis Suárez, whose inclusions in the starting lineup gave them each appearances at four World Cups.
The Koreans’ best chance to score in the first half materialized in the 34th minute, after they worked the ball to Hwang Ui-jo, all alone directly in front of the goal. But he skied his one-time shot over the crossbar and could only smile at his mistake. “We’re all human, ” said Son Heung-min, South Korea’s captain. “We all make mistakes. Ui-jo, from our team, is the best striker.
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