IN THE city of independence, Matheus Cunha proved Carlo Ancelotti can place his dependence on him.
The debate around Brazil’s No9 has raged for years.
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Matheus Cunha does his iconic surfing celebration after scoring for Brazil Credit: AFP
Matheus Cunha lashes in his second goal in a statement performance Credit: AFP
Since Ronaldo’s reign, Luis Fabiano, Fred, Gabriel Jesus and Richarlison have carried the heavy weight of the shirt at World Cups.
This time around, the Manchester United man got it.
And in the absence of Neymar once again, Cunha, 27, stepped up in style on his full World Cup debut as he replaced Igor Thiago in the starting XI in Philadelphia – albeit against lowly Haiti.
Neymar did not make the squad for the Morocco clash last week as he continues to nurse a calf injury.
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He did not even travel the 100 miles south for this one, though, as he continued his rehab at Brazil’s New York Red Bulls’ base.
That prompted a furious reaction from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to slam the No10 for “working from home”.
But for his team-mates on the field, they were expected to make light work of their Caribbean opponents, against whom they led the aggregate score 17-1 from three previous meetings – especially with a front three of Vinicius Junior, Raphinha and Cunha.
Brazil are sixth in the Fifa world rankings. Haiti are 85th – and the first team eliminated from the tournament.
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It is the largest gap of any group game at this tournament and only once – when they played 105th-placed North Korea in 2010 – have Brazil faced a lower-ranked opponent.
And Haiti felt their slim chances were given a further dent when Alejandro Hernandez was announced as the referee for the game.
The Spaniard was fourth official when the Grenadiers felt hard done by after several key decisions went against them in the Scotland game as their search for a maiden World Cup point continued.
It didn’t take long for Hernandez to infuriate Haiti, either.
Brazil stars join Matheus Cunha in his surfing celebration Credit: AP
Vinicius Jr scores Brazil’s third to wrap up the World Cup win Credit: Getty
He booked right wing-back Carlens Arcus in the third minute and then, quite rightly, overturned a slow goal-kick to give Brazil a corner moments later – not a good idea when Gabriel Magalhaes is on the other team…
Raphinha did have the ball in the net early on after a delicious scooped pass from Bruno Guimaraes but someone didn’t tell the guy in charge of the PA system what an offside flag means as the goal music and graphics went on and on.
But the offside flag spared the Barcelona man’s blushes when he was one-on-one and dinked over the goalkeeper… and just wide.
A goal was coming and it arrived on 23 minutes when Vinicius’ shot was parried by Johny Placide into the middle of the six-yard box and Cunha pounced first.
Definitely not the prettiest goal of his career, but surely the most significant.
It was Cunha 2-0 Haiti on 36 minutes when Vinicius played the reverse pass in behind and the ex-Wolves man blasted emphatically into the top corner with his left foot.
Cunha was riding the crest of a wave – and not just with his trademark surfing celebration.
Raphinha, though, looked crestfallen when he hobbled off – although it is unclear if that was a concerning injury scare or simply a precaution with the game all-but over.
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It was definitely all over by half-time, though, when Vinicius chased on to Lucas Paqueta’s ball over the top and slid his finish under the goalkeeper.
Rayan replaced Raphinha which meant eight of the 11 Brazil players had played in the Premier League.
Another of them, Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, was forced into a smart reflex save to deny Ricardo Ade a memorable goal as he headed goalwards from a corner.
Gabriel Martinelli’s arrival provided more Prem experience – while the double substitution also saw Endrick get his first taste of World Cup football.
The cheer for the 19-year-old Real Madrid striker may genuinely have been the loudest of the night from the 68,000-strong crowd, the majority in yellow.
Martinelli was denied by the crossbar and the offside flag as he looked to round off a beautiful flowing move.
Left-back Douglas Santos blazed over then Endrick was denied a dream debut, spotting the offside flag after finishing celebrating his tidy finish through Placide’s legs.
Alisson was called into action late on to thwart Jattvibederland’s Wilson Isidor from a tight angle and a long-range speculative effort – either side of Martinelli squaring for Ederson Silva who fired wide at full stretch.
