Brazil with Disappointing Start leads draw with Switzerland

Brazil’s Neymar reacted after World Cup match against Switzerland

Frustrating night for the five-time champions Brazil as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Switzerland in their opening Group E match. Philippe Coutinho gave Brazil a perfect start by scoring a stunning goal in the 20th minute as they head to the half-time break with a 1-0 lead. But Steven Zuber's header early in the second half (50th minute) was enough for the Swiss to snatch a point from one of the tournament favourites.

Neymar roughed up plenty

• 96' - Brazil get a corner in the dying minutes. Swiss get a goal kick
• 94' - Free-kick for Brazil. Neymar was brought down and is readying himself to take the shot
• 91' - Joao Miranda hit it wide from top of the Swiss box. Another good chance wasted
• 90' - Five minutes added as stoppage time
• 90' - SAVE! Brilliant save from Swiss goalkeeper to deny Firmino. Good header from the Brazilian.
• 89' - Xherdan Shaqiri made a good counter-attacking run, but his shot from a distance with left foot was well wide of Brazil goal
• 88' - Neymar's header was straight to Swiss goalkeeper. Good cross-in from Willian
• 87' - Substitution! Lichtsteiner is replaced by Michael Lang for Switzerland
• 85' - Neymar passed it to Firmino inside the Swiss box, but the later's touch was heavy. Chance missed again. Brazil showing a lot of urgency as final whistle nears, but they are finding it tough to break the Swiss defence.
• 81' - Firmino shot it over the Swiss crossbar from the close range. A half-chance at best
• 80' - Substitution! Haris Seferovic is replaced by Embolo for Switzerland
• 79' - Substitution! Gabriel Jesus is replaced by Firmino for Brazil
• 78' - Neymar attempted a curler from just outside the box, but Swiss goalkeeper judged it well and collected it calmly
• 77' - Fernandinho tried his luck from a long distance, but the ball went well over the Swiss crossbar
• 73' - Xherdan Shaqiri's cross was shot in by Dzemaili, but it was weak and straight to Brazil goalkeeper
• 71' - Substitution! Denis Zakaria came in to replace Valon Behrami
• 70' - Philippe Coutinho's close range shot curled away from Swiss goal. Chance wasted
• 68' - Yellow Card! Valon Behrami booked for another foul on Neymar
• 67' - Substitution! Another change for Brazil. Renato Augusto replaced Paulinho
• 66' - Fernandinho long-ranger deflected away to give Brazil a corner
• 65' - Yellow Card! Fabian Schaer booked for tugging Neymar's shirt on the left side of Swiss box. Free-kick for Brazil
• 60' - Substitution! Casemiro is replaced by Fernandinho for Brazil
• 59' - Brazil on the offensive after the Swiss equaliser. Back-to-back corners, but good defending from Switzerland
• 58' - Neymar's attempt from close range hit the side net after deflection. Corner for Brazil. Neymar attempt came soon after two back-to-back shots by Coutinho was blocked by Swiss defenders
• 57' - This time Xherdan Shaqiri's cross-in from the right flank was straight to Brazil goalkeeper Alisson Becker
• 50' - GOAL! Steven Zuber scored the equaliser for Switzerland
• Xherdan Shaqiri curled the ball in the Brazil box and the unmarked Zuber jump high to head it in the goal over the Brazil goalkeeper from the four yards out. Awry defending by Brazil, no man marking in front of the goal mouth.
• 50' - Corner for Switzerland
• 47' - Yellow Card! Early booking in the second half for Brazil's Casemiro, for his challenge on Blerim Dzemaili

Second half begins...

Players coming off to the field for the second half. Will Swiss be able to create a clear chance, which they failed in the previous half?

HT - It's Brazil 1-0 Switzerland at the half-time break
Philippe Coutinho's thunderous strike in the 20th minute gave the five-time winners a 1-0 lead at the half-time break. Brazil dominated the proceedings in the first half, even though Switzerland made some penetration of the opposition box in the final ten minutes of the half.

• 45+2' - Thiago Silva's header went over the Swiss crossbar
• 45+1' - Corner for Brazil in the dying minutes of the first half
• 45' - Two minutes added as stoppage time
• 43' - Xherdan Shaqiri's cross-in from the right of the Brazil box was headed away to safety by Thiago Silva comfortably
• 40' - Thiago Silva hit directly on the head by Steven Zuber's shot. The Brazilian defender is down on the ground, but is okay to continue
• 38' - Finally Swiss front-line in the Brazilian box, but no danger for Alisson Becker
• 36' - Looking for the equaliser, Switzerland finding it tough to penetrate the Brazilian final third
• 32' - Brazil won a corner after Marcelo's free-kick was headed away by Swiss defender
• 31' - Yellow Card! First booking of the match went to Switzerland captain Stephan Lichtsteiner, for his foul against Neymar
• 25' - Corner for Switzerland. Headed away easily by Brazilian defender
• 20' - GOAL! Philippe Coutinho's thunderous strike gave Brazil the lead

The constant penetration into Swiss box worked for Brazil, with Coutinho utilising the pressure to strike from outside the box. Marcelo’s cross was headed away by Swiss defender but it landed in front of Coutinho, 25 yards out, and the thunderous right-footed curler found the Swiss net. What a goal!

• 17' - Good run from the Brazillian front-line, but the Gabriel Jesus cross from the left was comfortably intercepted by Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer
• 16' - Neymar hit the Swiss wall
• 15' - Free-kick for Brazil from a dangerous position, after Valon Behrami brought down Neymar
• 14' - Brazil getting into the groove as they started making regular penetration to the Swiss box
• 11' - Paulinho failed to tap-in from close range in front of the Swiss goal-mouth. The mishit went wide of the goal
• 8' - Paulinho failed to control the ball properly inside the Swiss box. Goal kick for Switzerland
• 3' - Blerim Dzemaili lopped it over the Brazil crossbar from close range. Good attacking start from the Swiss side
• 2' - Early attack from Switzerland. It ended with a goal kick for Brazil

Here we go... KICK-OFF TIME

*Time for National Anthems*

Players coming out from the tunnel 

Starting line-ups
Brazil (4-3-3): Alisson Becker; Danilo, Thiago Silva, Joao Miranda, Marcelo (capt); Paulinho, Casemiro, Philippe Coutinho; Willian, Gabriel Jesus, Neymar. Coach: Tite (BRA)

Switzerland (4-2-3-1): Yann Sommer; Stephan Lichtsteiner (capt), Manuel Akanji, Fabian Schaer, Ricardo Rodriguez; Valon Behrami, Granit Xhaka; Xherdan Shaqiri, Blerim Dzemaili, Steven Zuber; Haris Seferovic. Coach: Vladimir Petkovic (BIH)

Referee: Cesar Ramos (MEX)

On The other hand, Aleksandar Kolarov scored a spectacular free-kick to give Serbia a deserved victory in their opening World Cup Group E match against Costa Rica. 

Serbia Vs Costa Rica: 1-0

Courtesy: TOI and Other sources