Brazil can get better
Brazil can get better

Brazil can get better

Dorcas Mhungu
Midfielder Philippe Coutinho insists that Brazil still has scope for improvement despite winning seven straight matches since the appointment of coach Tite.

The Selecao moved to within touching distance of a berth at next year's World Cup with a 4-1 victory over Uruguay in Montevideo on Thursday. Tite's team will all but secure a spot in Russia if they overcome Paraguay at Corinthians Arena on Tuesday.

Despite the confidence gained under Tite, who replaced Dunga in June after the team's group-stage elimination from the Copa America, Coutinho said Brazil were far from a finished product.

“There is always something that we can improve,” the Liverpool midfielder told reporters. “Tite pays a lot of attention to detail, positioning and dead-ball situations. We are playing well but he is always talking about what we need to do to get better.”

Brazil currently lead the South American zone World Cup qualifying standings with 30 points from 13 matches, seven points ahead of second-placed Uruguay. Paraguay are seventh with 18 points and need to win on Tuesday to maintain hope of qualifying for the tournament in Russia.

“We have to be focused just as we were against Uruguay,” Coutinho said. “Every game is complicated and every team wants to make life difficult for us. “We had a great result against Uruguay, which showed our maturity. But now we have another challenge. If we are all focused, we are confident that everything will go to plan.”

In another action, the 18-year-old sensation Kylian Mbappe made his international debut for France in a 3-1 road victory over Luxembourg, while Cristiano Ronaldo had a brace to earn Portugal a 3-0 home win against Hungary in Saturday's 2018 World Cup European qualifiers.

Mbappe came from the bench for Dimitri Payet in the 78th minute, one minute after Olivier Giroud scored his second goal of the match with a header from Benjamin Mendy's cross. The Arsenal striker opened the deadlock with a low shot for Les Bleus before the half-hour mark. The hosts tied the game on 34 minutes thanks to Aurelien Joachim's penalty, before Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann pushed France up again in the same style.

France led Group A with four wins and one draw from five games, owning a three-point margin over Sweden, who crushed over Belarus 4-0. The Netherlands were shocked by Bulgaria 2-0, and were subject to the fourth position. Bulgaria moved up to third on nine points. In Group B, skipper Ronaldo found the net in the 36th and 65th minute. The Portuguese superstar has tallied 70 goals so far in international competitions. Andre Silva opened the host's scoring account in the 32nd minute.

Portugal were three points adrift leaders Switzerland, who tasted five wins from five matches after edging past Latvia 1-0.

With a goalless draw against Faroe Islands, Andorra snapped their 58-game losing streak in competitive matches, also clinching their first point in the qualifiers.

Group H leaders Belgium took on striker Lukaku's goal in the 89th minute to finish a 1-1 draw with nine-men Greece, who still trailed by two points on second place.

In other two matches, Bosnia-Herzegovina thrashed minnows Gibraltar 5-0, and Cyprus drew 0-0 with Estonia.

Nine group winners in European qualifies will go directly to Russia in 2018, while the last four spots will be decided on the playoffs among eight best second-place finishers.



NAMPA/XINHUA

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Namibian Sun 2024-03-29

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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 233.12/OZ UP +1.93% | Copper US$ 3.99/lb UP +0.12% | Zinc US$ 2 455.50/T UP 0% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.65/BBP UP +1.46% | Platinum US$ 908.62/OZ UP +1.53%