The hosts cruised past an overmatched opponent to open the tournament on home soil
Brazil midfielder Casemiro has admitted that the pressure of playing for the national team does weigh on players as he urged his team-mated to keep pushing after a Copa America-opening win on Sunday.
Led by goals from Marquinhos, Neymar and Gabriel Barbosa, Brazil took down an overmatched Venezuela 3-0 to begin the tournament on home soil.
Brazil are, as always, favourites to win the competition, and Casemiro said that the team feels the pressure but also embraces it.
What was said?
“This shirt is very strong,” he said. “It’s very heavy and it has a very long history. Be it a friendly, Copa America, qualifiers, the World Cup, you have to play to win because the level of demands is very high.
“Those who come in have to honour this shirt, regardless of the result. But here it is about delivering, giving everything and always wanting to win.”
Marquinhos thankful for early goal
Facing a Venezuela team left shorthanded due to coronavirus-related absences, Brazil were fully prepared to face an opponent content to sit back and defender.
And Venezuela did just that for a bulk of the match but a 23rd-minute goal from Marquinhos meant that the hosts had little to stress about for a majority of the match.
In a way, Venezuela were a bit flattered by the 3-0 scoreline, with Neymar in particular missing several chances to run up the scoreline.
However, Neymar did get his goal from the penalty spot, moving him to within 10 goals of the legendary Pele on Brazil’s all-time leaderboard.
After the match, Marquinhos reflected on his all-important goal, one which set the tone needed for Brazil to carry through the game.
“I believe the team managed to do what they wanted,” he said. “We knew we were going to find a closed team which would make our game difficult. But thank God we were able to open the scoring, which made it easier.
“We have to make the most of it. We know how important it is to score, regardless of being a defender, especially in a game like this in which the first goal is very important for the opponent to open up a little more.”
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