Brazil Vs Switzerland: World Cup 2018 - Today, 7pm


The five-time winners are unbeaten in opening matches at the world finals since Italy 1934
Switzerland have happy memories of their group opener at South Africa 2010

The Rostov Arena will provide a spectacular setting for the second match in Group E at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™, which pits tournament favourites Brazil against Switzerland, who are the only side in history to have beaten eventual World Cup champions in their opening match.

Sunday’s game marks the return of the Brazilians to the World Cup stage following their traumatic campaign on home soil in 2014. It took them fully two years to recover from the experience, with the arrival of the wily Tite in the dugout in the middle of 2016 restoring a sense of calm to the team. In revitalising the side and finding the right blend, he ensured they were the first South American side to reach Russia 2018. Such was the scale of his overhaul of the squad that the five-time world champions have only six players with World Cup experience in their ranks, as was the case four years ago.

Facing them will be a durable Swiss side that has lost just once since early 2016 and only exited UEFA EURO 2016 on penalties. Though they had to go through the play-offs to qualify, Switzerland put together an excellent campaign in the European preliminaries and know what it takes to impress against a big-name team in an opening match, having beaten eventual champions Spain in their first outing at South Africa 2010.

Did you know?
Brazil have won 16 of their 20 opening matches at the World Cup. The only two they have lost came at the first two world finals, back in the days when they played in white. The Brazilians went down 2-1 to Yugoslavia at Uruguay 1930 and 3-1 to Spain at Italy 1934.

Possible line-ups
Brazil: Alisson; Danilo, Thiago Silva, Miranda, Marcelo; Casemiro, Paulinho, Philippe Coutinho; Willian, Gabriel Jesus, Neymar.

Switzerland: Sommer; Lichtsteiner, Schaer, Akanji, Rodriguez; Behrami, Xhaka; Shaqiri, Dzemaili, Zuber; Seferovic.



Re: Brazil Vs Switzerland: World Cup 2018 - Today, 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Daniel James Completes Man Utd Medical

Daniel James completed a medical at Manchester United on Thursday ahead of finalising his £18m move from Swansea, according to report. United are close to completing a deal for the 21-year-old winger and Wales international, who has one year left on his contract, as manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looks to begin his rebuild of the club. It is understood the initial fee is worth £15m plus an additional £3m in add-ons, with personal terms already agreed. James has returned to the Wales squad preparing for their European Qualifiers against Croatia (Saturday) and Hungary (Tuesday).
Read more

Man Utd Complete £15m Signing of Daniel James

Manchester United have completed the signing of Swansea City attacker Daniel James in a deal worth £15 million ($19m). It is understood the 21-year-old has signed a five-year contract with the Old Trafford giants and has become Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first addition since his arrival as manager in December 2018. The pacey winger lit up the Championship in 2018-19, scoring five goals and assisting 10 more in 38 appearances in all competitions. James also made a huge impact in this year's FA Cup, scoring a memorable individual goal against Brentford in the fifth round, before putting in a stellar display as Swansea succumbed to a narrow defeat against Manchester City in the quarter-finals. As a result of his excellent form, he was also handed his first two caps for Wales by United great Ryan Giggs, scoring in his second appearance against Slovakia in March. United have released an official statement confirming James's arrival via their club website on Friday, which rea...
Read more

Jose Mourinho Falls At Wembley As England Loses To Spain (Photos)

Image
Jose Mourinho was hoping not to be the fall guy this week, but the Manchester United boss couldn’t help himself from tripping over at Wembley before England’s Nations League defeat to Spain. Mourinho was strolling into Club Wembley to take his position for the match when he slipped over on the concrete. The Special One dropped to the ground and had a sheepish look on his face as he clambered back up in front of the stunned crowd. Football fans were quick to react to the incident on Twitter, with one comparing Mourinho to former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.
Read more