Vinícius Júnior’s deft strike midway through the first half earned Brazil a 1-1 draw with Morocco at MetLife Stadium on Saturday, rescuing Carlo Ancelotti’s side in an opening World Cup fixture that left plenty of questions unanswered.
Morocco controlled large portions of the match, with Ismael Saibari opening the scoring after a threaded pass from Brahim Díaz split Brazil’s centre-back pairing of Marquinhos and Gabriel Magalhães and allowed Saibari to chip the ball over Allison. Morocco had 12 attempts inside the first 30 minutes and were bolstered by the performance of 18-year-old midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi.
Brazil laboured early as Lucas Paquetá started wide, leaving Bruno Guimarães and 34-year-old Casemiro to cover expansive areas on a dry pitch in the New Jersey heat. Ancelotti cited ‘nerves’ and ‘anxiety’ for the poor start; he moved Paquetá inside to form a midfield three and shifted Vinícius onto the left, from where the Real Madrid forward cut inside and curled a right-foot shot into the far corner.
Ancelotti praised Vinícius after the match, saying the forward ‘did well’ and was ‘very dangerous.’ The manager also acknowledged the team’s shortcomings, saying ‘we didn’t play well’ and that in the first half Brazil were ‘very unbalanced.’ He added that while the result ‘isn’t bad’ he was ‘not disappointed but … not satisfied, either.’ Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi said, ‘We hoped to have more.’
Brazil avoided a first-match World Cup loss for the 90th year, having not lost their opening game since 1934. According to the match report, the draw gives Ancelotti a chance to reassess tactics ahead of Brazil’s next game, against Haiti in Philadelphia on Friday, with discussions around formations such as a 4-2-4 or adding an extra midfielder to provide more balance and control.
