Ninety-Six Minutes of Faith: Brazil Survives Japan, But the Seleção Owes Us More

If you love Brazil the way my family loves Brazil — the way an entire diaspora holds its breath every four years — then Monday afternoon in Houston took years off your life.

The Seleção beat Japan 2-1 in the Round of 32 at NRG Stadium, but "beat" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. It took a stoppage-time winner from substitute Gabriel Martinelli, five minutes into added time, to spare the five-time champions from what would have ranked among the great World Cup shocks. When Bruno Guimarães slipped that pass through and Martinelli bent his finish past Zion Suzuki in the 96th minute, the exhale you heard stretched from Houston to Ipanema to every Brazilian barbershop, botequim, and living room across the diaspora.

Japan earned every ounce of the scare. Kaishu Sano's superb solo strike in the 29th minute stunned Carlo Ancelotti's side, and for a half, the Samurai Blue made the most decorated nation in football history look ordinary. Brazil had all the ball and none of the ideas, laboring against a disciplined Japanese block that collapsed into a five-man defensive wall the moment possession changed hands. Suzuki was magnificent in goal, including a fingertip save that pushed a breathtaking Vinícius Júnior run and shot onto the post — a stop that denied us what might have been the goal of the tournament.

Casemiro finally dragged Brazil level in the 56th minute, rising at the back post to power home a header from Gabriel's cross and atone for a shaky first half. From there the Seleção pressed and pressed, and just when extra time seemed inevitable, Martinelli — sent on by Ancelotti in the second half — delivered.

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Now let's talk family business, because Cup of Soul doesn't do blind cheerleading.

This Brazil squad is old. The team that took the field against Japan was the second-oldest Brazil has fielded at a World Cup since 1966. Casemiro, heroic as he was, is 34, and he left the match injured. The samba nation is leaning heavily on legs that have logged a lot of miles, and the free-flowing joga bonito of legend showed up only in flashes. For long stretches, Brazil looked like a team waiting for individual brilliance to bail out collective sluggishness.

And yet — this is the thing about Brazil — the brilliance keeps showing up. Vinícius has four goals this tournament. Neymar made his return during a dominant group stage that saw Brazil top its group unbeaten, drawing Morocco before back-to-back 3-0 wins over Haiti and Scotland. This marks the eleventh consecutive World Cup in which Brazil has reached the Round of 16. No other nation carries that kind of consistency, and no other nation carries that kind of expectation. Anything short of a sixth star — the hexa we've been chasing since 2002 — is failure in the eyes of 200 million Brazilians and millions more of us scattered across the globe who carry the flag in our hearts.

Spare a word, too, for Japan. Coach Hajime Moriyasu said afterward that the gap between his side and the elite is closing, and Monday proved him right. Japan has still never won a World Cup knockout match — this was the fifth time in eight tournaments they've fallen at the first knockout hurdle — but the day is coming, and the football world should be ready.

What's Next

The reward for survival is no gift: Brazil faces Norway and the terrifying Erling Haaland on Sunday, July 5, at New York New Jersey Stadium. Haaland scored his fifth goal of the tournament in Norway's 2-1 win over Côte d'Ivoire, the country's first-ever knockout victory. He's scored in all three of his World Cup appearances, and Brazil's aging backline will get no rest against him.

The Seleção found a way against Japan. Mind, heart, and clarity — that's what Ancelotti asked for. Against Haaland, they'll need all three from the opening whistle, not the 96th minute.

Vamos, Brasil. But please — my nerves are begging you — start on time