Jogo Bonito is back. Again.
Neymar is back from the injury that kept him off the pitches of Qatar for Brazil's remaining couple of group stage matches.
After much speculation over his presence, Brazil's No. 10 started and scored a penalty in a marvelous 4-1 victory over South Korea in the Round of 16.
Cold as ice.
In a World Cup of meticulously calculated added time, South Korea was extremely grateful to the officiating crew for only adding five minutes to the end of the first-half Monday after Brazil scored four salacious goals and accented each with a three-part dance production.
You felt bad for the Taegeuk Warriors because it definitely got embarrassing, but this is why you always, without fail, put Brazil on the television when they're playing at a World Cup — this is the beautiful game.
This World Cup is special for Lionel Messi — not only because he wants glory, not only because it's probably his last one, but also because his three kids are old enough to watch him play.
"From the very beginning, from kick-off to the final whistle, I'm thinking of my children," confessed the Argentine star after defeating Australia and qualifying for the quarterfinals against the Netherlands.
AL RAYYAN, Qatar - Brazil forward Neymar will train later on Sunday and is set to play for the five-times champions in their World Cup last-16 match against South Korea after recovering from an ankle injury, coach Tite said.
Neymar suffered the injury in Brazil's opening 2-0 win over Serbia, which ruled him out of their 1-0 win over Switzerland and the shock defeat by Cameroon, one of a series of injury problems within the squad.
"Neymar will train today in the afternoon and if he trains well he will play," Tite told a news conference.
AL RAYYAN, Qatar - Argentina captain Lionel Messi and coach Lionel Scaloni predicted a tough but beautiful encounter with the Netherlands when the sides meet in Friday's World Cup quarterfinal.
Argentina beat Australia 2-1 while the Netherlands defeated the United States 3-1 on Saturday to set up a tantalizing clash between two of the great teams of world football who famously met in the 1978 World Cup final which the South Americans won.
SAO PAULO — Brazilian soccer great Pelé remains in stable condition after being hospitalized this week as he battles colon cancer, a hospital medical report said on Saturday.
Pelé, 82, has also responded well to treatment for a respiratory infection diagnosed this week and his condition has not worsened in the last 24 hours, medical staff at Sao Paulo's Albert Einstein Hospital said.
Pelé - one of the greatest footballers of all time if not the greatest - was admitted to hospital on Tuesday to re-evaluate his cancer treatment.
Lionel Messi desbloqueó un nuevo obstáculo en su sueño de ganar la Copa del Mundo con Argentina. Pese a complicarse más de la cuenta, La Albiceleste se las arregló para vencer a Australia por 2-1 y avanzó a los cuartos de final del Mundial de Catar 2022 con el 10 como figura angular.
Uno de los goles del triunfo lo anotó precisamente Messi y en honor a las circunstancias no fue cualquier gol.
Lionel Messi moved above compatriot Diego Maradona on all-time World Cup goals for Argentina with his ninth on Saturday during a Round of 16 clash against Australia, and he accomplished what Cristiano Ronaldo has not in five different World Cups — Messi scored in the knockout rounds.
Australia was a massive underdog heading into this one, but the Socceroos' defensive approach had largely nullified Argentina for half an hour.
AL RAYYAN, Qatar - Uruguay's Luis Suárez refused to apologize to Ghanaians on Thursday for his role 12 years ago in their biggest World Cup setback, arguing it wasn't his handball that denied Ghana a quarterfinal winner but their missed penalty that followed.
A win for Ghana against Uruguay in Friday's final Group H match could avenge their acrimonious defeat by the South Americans in 2010, when Suárez used his hand to block an extra-time winner for Ghana, who missed the resulting spot-kick and lost the penalty shootout that followed.
A Ecuador se le acabó la gasolina y tras caer 2-1 ante Senegal se despidió del Mundial de Catar.
Luego de vencer a la selección anfitriona en el debut y de robarle un empate a los Países Bajos, La Tri solo necesitaba de un empate ante los campeones africanos para sellar su paso a la segunda fase.