ST PETERSBURG: Late strikes by Philippe Coutinho and Neymar gave Brazil their first win of the World Cup in thrilling fashion against Costa Rica on Friday and broke Central American hearts in St. Petersburg by sending them out of the tournament.
The clock had ticked past 90 minutes, and the five-time champions looked to be edging to a second successive disappointing draw when Marcelo floated the ball in from the left and substitute Roberto Firmino headed across to Gabriel Jesus.
But Coutinho and Neymar finally broke through, scoring in the 91st and 97th minutes to put Tite’s side on the brink of the knockout stages.
Jesus’s first touch took the ball away from the defender and into the path of Coutinho who raced in to poke past goalkeeper Keylor Navas from six metres out for his second goal of the tournament.
The result leaves Brazil with four points from two games after they drew 1-1 with Switzerland in their opening match, and they provisionally rise above Serbia to top Group ‘E’.
Serbia were playing Switzerland later on Friday, while Costa Rica are out of the tournament with defeats in both games so far.
Neymar added the second with practically the last kick of the match, volleying home Jesus’s square ball following a quick counter-attack as Costa Rica pushed for an equaliser.
The forward, who thought he had won a penalty in the 77th minute only for the referee to reverse the decision after consultation with the video assistant referee (VAR), was overcome by emotion on the whistle, covering his face with his hands as tears streamed down his cheeks.