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Richarlison scored an early contender for goal of the tournament as Brazil ended Serbia’s stubborn resistance to win their opening match of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Serbia had defended resolutely in the opening half but fell behind when Richarlison prodded home a rebound after Vinicius Jr’s shot was parried across the face of goal.
But the best was yet to come from the Tottenham Hotspur forward.
Once again Vinicius Jr was the creator, with the Real Madrid man flicking a cross into the box with the outside of his boot.
Richarlison appeared to have initially miscontrolled the ball but he responded brilliantly, swiveling on the spot and acrobatically volleying the ball beyond Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
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Result: Brazil 2-0 Serbia
The key moment of Brazil vs Serbia
Richarlison’s second goal.
The smart cross into the box from Vinicius Jr was sublime. But the finish from Richarlison was somehow even better.
Richarlison scored a sublime second goal (Photo: Getty Images)
Player of the match: Richarlison
There was so much pressure on the Tottenham striker coming into this tournament.
But the 25-year-old remained patient and took his chances when they came. One was a scrappy finish, the other a sensational one.
He becomes the first Brazilian player to score twice on his World Cup debut after Neymar in 2014.
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Key statistic
Richarlison has now scored as many World Cup goals as Ronaldinho (2).
Ronaldinho scored two World Cup goals (Photo: Getty Images)
What does it mean?
It means Brazil’s next match, against Switzerland, is a top-of-the-table clash and will likely determine who wins Group G.
What next?
Brazil and Switzerland clash on Monday 28 November. Serbia take on Cameroon before that and the European side will need to get something from that game if they are to have any chance of progressing to the knockout stage.
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(Photo: Getty Images)
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