Gabriel Martinelli scores late in injury time to help Brazil beat Japan 2-1 at World Cup
HOUSTON (AP) — With Brazil trailing for much of the game and with extra time looming, Gabriel Martinelli came through in a big, big way at the World Cup.
Martinelli entered the game as a second-half substitute and put an end to Japan’s near-upset on Monday, scoring the winning goal late in injury time to give five-time champion Brazil a 2-1 victory and a spot in the round of 16.
The result was a showcase of Brazil’s Italian connections. Martinelli holds dual citizenship in Italy and Brazil, and the man who made the decision to change the team’s makeup was Carlo Ancelotti, an Italian who is the first European to coach the South American country’s national team.
“Above all else we wanted to freshen up the field because Martinelli has a lot of intensity as a player,” Ancelotti said through a translator. “When he goes in the match he’s always on his top game.”
Brazil will next face either the Ivory Coast or Norway on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the round of 16.
“We can never be content with what we’re doing,” Ancelotti said. “We’re doing a good job. We are performing. But you can never be content because we want to play better. We want to play at the highest level.”
Casemiro had earlier equalized for Brazil on a header in the 56th minute off an assist from Gabriel Magalhães after just missing another chance two minutes earlier. The shot sailed just out of the reach of the outstretched hand of Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki and into the net.
Kaishu Sano stole a misplaced pass at midfield and took it down the field before a right-footed shot from above the half circle put Japan ahead in the 29th minute.
“There is not not making mistakes because nobody is perfect,” Ancelotti said. “But you have to overcome it and you have to push it forward. The team did a good job of that in the second half.”
Vinícius Júnior, who has scored four goals so far in this year's tournament, had a chance to put Brazil on top in the 58th minute but his shot from the left box was deflected by Suzuki and went off the far post.
Casemiro left in the first minute of second-half stoppage time with what appeared to be a leg injury.
Brazil had two chances to even the score early in the second half before breaking through. On the first one, Suzuki blocked a header from Bruno Guimarães in the 52nd minute. Soon after, Casemiro’s header bounced off a defender’s head and Suzuki’s face. Suzuki finished with four saves.
Brazil great Neymar didn’t play Monday after making his first appearance for the team since 2023 in the last game against Scotland. He played only 14 minutes in that 3-0 win after missing the first two group matches at the World Cup with a right calf injury.
“I was seriously considering putting him on the pitch,” Ancelotti said. “In the end, we did not need him.”
Japan has never won a knockout match at the World Cup, going 0-4 in the round of 16 — including also taking the lead the last two times in 2018 and 2022 before losing.
The win was Brazil’s 12th in 15 games against Japan. The teams have also played to two draws while Japan got its first win in the series in a friendly in Tokyo in October.
“The gap between us is closing now,” Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu said through a translator. “Brazil is a top-tier team and we’re definitely approaching that level.”
Then he mentioned the loss in Qatar four years ago before adding: “We have to up our game.”
This was a matchup between two countries with deep ties, with Brazil being home to about 2.7 million Japanese descendants, which is the largest Japanese population outside of Japan.
Those ties extend to soccer where Brazil superstar Zico moved to Japan in 1991 to play for Kashima Antlers and help build Japan’s professional soccer network. He coached the Japan national team from 2002-06, leading the team to the World Cup in 2006.
That team lost to Brazil 4-1 in the only previous meeting between the teams at the World Cup.
Brazil won Group C after a draw with Morocco and victories over Haiti and Scotland. Monday’s victory came on the anniversary of their first World Cup championship in Sweden in 1958, when a 17-year-old Pele scored two goals in the final against the host country.
Japan reached the round of 32 as runner-up in Group F after a draws with the Netherlands and Sweden and a win over Tunisia. The loss snaps a 10-game unbeaten streak dating back to a 2-0 loss to the United States in September.
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