The five-time World Cup champions Brazil were outplayed by Morocco for large parts of their 1-1 draw in front of a sell-out crowd at MetLife Stadium.
Morocco scored an excellent goal to take the lead when Ismael Saibari chipped the ball over the Brazil goalkeeper Alisson, after racing on to a brilliant pass from Brahim Diaz.
Brazil were struggling but a moment of magic from Vinicius made it 1-1 with a superb individual goal, cutting in from the left and lashing a shot beyond Yassine Bounou.
Brazil had made four of their allocated five substitutes before 65 minutes, in a clear sign of Ancelotti’s thoughts on the performance. One of the players hauled off at half-time was Casemiro, the 34-year-old midfielder who has recently left Manchester United after reaching the end of his contract.
In stark contrast to Casemiro, playing in the same position for Morocco, was Ayyoub Bouaddi. The 18-year-old was outstanding for the champions of Africa as they earned a deserved point from this match.
Jack Lang and Amy Lawrence analyse the key talking points…
Will other teams fear Brazil after this?
Anyone who felt that Brazil were being underrated or overlooked ahead of this World Cup can probably put that opinion away now.
This is a side rich in talent, especially in attack, but Ancelotti has an enormous amount of work to do if the Selecao are to reach the latter stages of this tournament, let alone win it.
Their first-half performance here was genuinely appalling. Roger Ibanez, a centre-back who plays in Saudi Arabia, was completely adrift at right-back and replaced at half-time. Casemiro and Bruno Guimaraes looked like they were wading through treacle. Igor Thiago, a surprise selection up front, fluffed his one half chance and barely touched the ball. There was no pattern to the play. They scored in the only way they were ever going to score, via a slice of individual magic from Vinicius.
Ancelotti’s half-time changes were quietly damning. Casemiro was replaced by Fabinho, last seen at the very top level of the game three years ago. Ibanez gave way to Danilo, a 34-year-old who isn’t even a regular starter at his club, Flamengo. It underlined the weaknesses in this squad and Brazil’s stuttering production line in central midfield and at full-back.
In fairness, Brazil did improve in the second half. There was more intensity, more control. You could not, however, argue that they deserved more than a point from the game. Or that the genuine favourites in this World Cup should be quaking in their boots.
Jack Lang
How far can this Morocco side go?
The answer to that is reflected in the body language of Morocco’s players. Did they look like a team surprised by the manner of their performance? Not remotely. Their self-assurance, their belief in their ability, their — dare it be suggested — comfort for a lot of this bold display tells of a team that fear nobody and feel more than ready.
Morocco caught the eye at the last World Cup when they reached the semi-finals. The intervening four years have cemented their ambitions.
It takes immense mental and technical qualities to fly into Brazil in an opening World Cup group match. It would be entirely reasonable to be cautious, sounding the occasion out, but such stuff was of no interest whatsoever to a Morocco team full of daring. They tore at their opponents with high intensity precision which left Brazil so befuddled they may as well have worn a sicklier shade of yellow.
Morocco’s growth in recent years has injected them with such self assurance that they were intent on playing their own game, at their own fierce pace. They were rewarded with a breathtaking strike to take the lead. It was a move built on a dazzling mix of speed of thought, simplicity of execution, and serenity in front of goal.
Brahim Diaz, whose creative instincts were switched on, found himself in the centre circle with three yellow shirts closing in. He took them all out the game with a crafted forward pass towards Ismael Saibari. In the moment, some forwards might have tightened up or rushed it, but the PSV striker was in his element, confident and secure enough to lift the ball over a stranded Allisson Becker.
This was not a goal out of nothing. It was the result of an exceptional 20 minutes — and arguably a very profitable few years of work in fact.
Amy Lawrence
Just how good is Ayyoub Bouaddi?
If the doors slid differently, Ayyoub Bouaddi might not have been on this pitch, in this game, striding purposefully in midfield at the age of 18 for his fourth ever senior cap in a World Cup game against Brazil.
He might have turned out for France soon enough instead. The choice was entirely his. French born, a player who represented Les Bleus in multiple junior age groups and was captain of their under-21s, he made the decision to switch to the country of his roots, Morocco, a month before this tournament began.
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters/Caean Couto)
There had been a tug of war to persuade him to take one or other shirt in senior football, and he plumped for the country of his origins. “I made my decision, and I am very proud of it,” he said after the choice was confirmed.
It is France’s loss as he is impressively accomplished. With an upright style and imposing physique, he covered ground and with authority beyond his experience as Morocco dominated the midfield heartland in the first half.
The world will surely be hearing a lot more from him in time to come. His club side, Lille, are braced for interest from major clubs and a performance like this only adds to his already considerable value.
Amy Lawrence
Have Casemiro’s legs really gone this time?
To paraphrase the infamous quote from Jamie Carragher, has the football now left Casemiro once and for all? That may be a little harsh, but football may once again be on the search for him, perhaps even calling out the neighbours and putting out messages in neighborhood watch groups.
This was a deeply uncomfortable experience for Casemiro, now 34, and, sadly, running out of time at the top level.
To be a little crude, Casemiro, appearing in the United States, looked MLS-ready amid interest from Inter Miami.
It felt like his renaissance at Manchester United over the past season was motivated to some degree by his desire to play one more World Cup for Brazil and finally achieve a dream of lifting the trophy.
That yields a certain sadness to his first-half experience against a vibrant Morocco.
Casemiro is certainly in the leanest shape of the back-end of his career but in the sticky heat of New Jersey, he just could not live with the challenge.
He was late to the tackle and left too much space behind midfield, which meant Brazil were often vulnerable to cutbacks. It should be said that Casemiro was not alone, with Bruno Guimaraes and Lucas Paqueta also far from their best in Brazil’s midfield.
Casemiro was dribbled past three times, the most of any player on the pitch before being substituted by Ancelotti, who has previously remained so loyal to his former Real Madrid midfielder. He also picked up a yellow card.
When I interviewed Ancelotti in May, he said of Casemiro: “He brings us experience, knowledge of the position, a tactical view, a really intelligent player on the pitch and leadership by example. So he is really important player in the squad.”
In the second half, he was replaced by the former Liverpool midfielder Fabinho, who is 32 but has spent his last three years playing in Saudi Arabia.
The midfielder Ederson, who is on the verge of joining Manchester United from Atalanta as one of Casemiro’s replacements, remained on the bench behind Ancelotti, having been called up late. The Brazilian media appear to think Ancelotti views Ederson as multi-functional, as cover at right-back, as well as an option in midfield.
Adam Crafton
