Brazil overcome Ecuador scare

A win was much needed for Brazil to revive their hopes of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Their opponent was a team that had a better outing than Brazil in recent times.  

Ecuador had been a team that had only been beaten once in the competition, precisely by Argentina in Argentina by 1-0. A team that had a good Copa America and that had been beaten on penalties by the World Champions in a tight match.

Brazil is passing a period where they had to play cautiously against an opponent whom, once upon a time, was thrashed by the players from the bench. But we are living in a different era where Brazil is not a force, but a side which is in a rebuilding process.

As usual, Brazil struggled against Ecuador in Curitiba.

While the opponent defended with a five-man defence – two wing backs alternating positions between attack and defence, Brazil had its first big chance in the 25th minute with Vinicius Junior, who received a great pass from Andre but finished just over the marker. Four minutes later, Brazil scored. Rodrygo Goes dribbled past the Ecuadorian defence and finished from the edge of the area to spark the stadium and bring back the memories of the old days.

At the end of the first half, Gabriel Magalhaes saved Brazil on the line, in Ecuador's only chance in the first half, with a shot by Caicedo in a counterattack set up by Rodríguez.

In the second half, Brazil made changes to maintain what they had built as if they wanted more. Still, Ecuador remained compact by having possession on the ball with no intention to create opportunities but to attack on the counter – a similar tactic which every opponent follows against Brazil knowing the fragility of the Selecao defence.

Ecuador began to threaten the Brazilian backline on the counter, and the team lost strength in attack.

Dorival Junior brought on Estevao, Gerson, Lucas Moura, and Joao Gomes, but the team's performance dropped and the Ecuadorians dominated. Paez and Rodríguez had the best chances but did not convert into goals.

Brazil attacked the opposing line, especially in the first half. The Selecao combined movements between midfielders and wingers on both sides and had a good approach. Rodrygo found interesting spaces behind their marking line between the defensive midfielders. He interestingly projected himself, but as the match progressed, his efforts did not combine to become bigger and failed to penetrate the opponent's compactness.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar