After tearing ligaments in his right ankle, Neymar has been doing physiotherapy “24 hours a day”. Laid up in his hotel room, he put the game against Switzerland on the big screen and couldn’t resist tweeting after Brazil secured qualification for the knockout stages with a game to spare. “Casemiro has been the best midfielder in the world for a long time,” he posted.
Casemiro é o melhor volante do mundo há muito tempo
— Neymar Jr (@neymarjr) November 28, 2022
In a shipping container somewhere in Stadium 974, the ground made out of freight on the waterfront in Doha, Tite didn’t disavow his injured No 10. “As always I respect opinions. I don’t usually comment on them but today I will allow myself to do so,” the Brazil coach then paused for effect. “I agree.”
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He was proud of his player. It went beyond his 83rd minute winner, the only goal of the game and the grimace it elicited from Switzerland coach Murat Yakin who must have thought his team were on the verge of frustrating Brazil again, as they had done in the group stages at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The goal itself was a beauty.
Read more: Brazil 4-1 South Korea: Richarlison wonder goal, Tite’s dancing, Neymar one short of Pele’s record
At a roundtable held in the bowels of Al-Arabi’s stadium where Brazil train, Casemiro said his eyes “light up” when Rodrygo touches the ball and they did again when a cleverly disguised pass found its way through to him. The outside of the foot finish Casemiro applied was the kind of refinement associated with players of Neymar’s calibre. Yann Sommer, in the Switzerland goal, said: “It was impossible to save. There’s nothing you can do about it.” The deflection off Manuel Akanji’s backside was irrelevant in his opinion. “He hit it so sweetly.”
It isn’t the first time his technique has caught attention. Casemiro’s goal for Real Madrid in the 2017 Champions League final was breathtaking too. He expected to score sooner or later in Qatar and felt he was due one after hitting the upright in Brazil’s opening game against Serbia in Lusail. “One of his virtues is he can shoot from mid-range,” Tite’s assistant Cesar Sampaio observed. “He’s a world-wide reference in his position.”
When Manchester United signed him in the summer, some wondered if the club were making the same mistake they made with Bastian Schweinsteiger, a player past his peak who Madrid were replacing with Aurelien Tchouameni.
After pursuing Frenkie de Jong then Adrien Rabiot, the veteran was not received with the same fanfare as other United signings, like Paul Pogba, have been in the past. For an over-30 player he was expensive too. But Casemiro can do everything, he was, after all, a member of one of the great midfields of all-time with Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.
“In the defensive phase he’s a reference for the back four,” Sampaio explained. “He’s the first filter, the first screen for our other midfielders.” That is not all though.
Against teams like Serbia, who play five at the back, and Switzerland, who qualified for the World Cup with the best defensive record in UEFA’s federation of nations, Brazil need their players to be brave and step up. “My first priority is to help the team, to bring equilibrium and support our defenders,” Casemiro insisted. “But when our opponent is more defensive, we have to feel what is happening in the match, assist our strikers and wingers and when you have the opportunity to go…” You go.
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Tite hailed Casemiro’s late runs as a “surprise element” that can help Brazil break down deep blocks. But the goal itself came as no surprise to the player. He had hit the upright against Serbia and felt he was due a goal. He had played Vinicius Junior through for what would have been a deadlock-breaking opener against the Swiss. Sampaio let on afterwards that Brazil’s staff viewed the game as “a chess match”. Who better to win it than Casemiro, a grand master of midfield and the game.
“It’s a pleasure to play against him for Manchester United and for Brazil,” Granit Xhaka said even in defeat. “Five Champions League titles. I just wish he hadn’t scored against us.”
Tactically this Brazil team is as fluid as they come, totally in-step with modern coaching trends and if they are able to support playing 3-2-5 and 4-2-4 in the attacking phase it is because of Casemiro’s reading of the game, the knowledge gleaned from his experience, the inbuilt chemistry he can draw on from playing with Rodrygo and Vinicius at Madrid, Fred and Antony at United.
He is Brazil’s processor. The chip in the team that takes on information, interprets it and finds the solutions to drive them forward.
Where to go next on The Athletic…
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Casemiro, unsurprisingly, believes the team have got plenty of them to cope without Neymar while he recuperates. “There are tonnes of younger players that are being able to handle themselves.”
After revealing earlier in the week that Brazil “even feel sorry for our opponents” because of their strength in depth — “we even joke about it” — he highlighted how Tite has used the last four years to build and build.
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“I wanted to take my cue from Casemiro,” Tite elaborated. “He said there was a wide range of options (in the team) because there has been a four-year period of development. Those four years are what won today. Process won today. That’s what’s the cherry on top of the cake today, on top of the individual skill.”
(Photo: Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
