Brazil 7-1 Haiti: Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho Stars in Copa America Thrashing - 5 Things We Learned

The Selecao recovered from their 0-0 draw with Ecuador in the opening match of the tournament, thanks to a hat-trick from the Red midfielder

    Hat-trick: Philippe Coutinho was on fire for Brazil last night

Brazil recovered from their disappointing 0-0 draw in their Copa America opener against Ecuador with a rousing 7-1 thrashing of helpless Haiti in Orlando on Wednesday evening.

The star of the show was Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho, who opened the scoring on 14 minutes, doubled his country’s lead on 28 minutes and completed his hat-trick in second-half stoppage time.

Beijing Guoan midfielder Renato Augusto weighed in with a brace while the remaining two goals were converted by substitutes Gabriel Barbosa and Lucas Lima.

Despite a thoroughly poor performance, Haiti did have something to cheer about when they pulled a goal back through James Marcelin on 70 minutes.

Here are five things we learned:

1. Let’s not get carried away by Brazil

Yes, they won by seven goals to one and you can only beat the team you are up against, but the obvious technical weakness of this Haitian side leaves a massive caveat to this otherwise impressive Brazil win. After opening the scoring within the first quarter of an hour, the Seleção had it all their own way in the Citrus Bowl, so any rash conclusions made about this game must be taken with a considerable pinch of salt.

The press back home in Brazil are certainly keeping their feet firmly on the ground after this “historic” victory, claiming that playing Brazil’s reserve team would have posed a stiffer challenge and castigating goalkeeper Allison for allowing Haiti to score their only goal.

While some of their attacking movement was impressive, there were still some negative points to Brazil’s performance. Benfica centre-forward Jonas was ineffectual in the first half and while his 19-year- old substitute Gabriel Barbosa got into some better positions and scored Brazil’s fourth goal, he still passed up several other good chances. Centre-forward remains a problem position for Brazil and in spite of their seven goals, this match against Haiti has not helped them solve it.

2. Finally, Coutinho could have a future in the Seleção

Philippe Coutinho: Was this his real breakthrough match for Brazil?

Though he has always been held in high regard by fans in Brazil since he burst on to the scene as a curly-haired teenager at Vasco da Gama, Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinhohas struggled somewhat to leave his mark on the Brazilian national team. This perhaps has less to do with the player himself and more to do with managerial choices by coach Dunga and the difficult period the Seleção finds itself in.

A frustrated substitute in Brazil’s desperately poor Copa America campaign of last year, he has struggled to make the transition from bench to pitch, often being handed late second half appearances where he found it difficult to make any serious impact.

His hat-trick against Haiti may have changed that, however. Despite competing for a starting place on Brazil’s wings against none other than Neymar, Douglas Costa and Willian, Coutinho showed his worth in this match by providing a constant goal threat in and around the penalty box.

With Neymar and Douglas Costa unavailable, the remainder of this Copa America could prove crucial for Phillippe Coutinho and his Seleção future. If he can establish himself as a steady source of goals, his place in the squad will be guaranteed. However, if this is just a one-off, there are dozens of Brazilian wingers looking to overtake him in the queue.

3. Dunga is playing to the gallery

Under pressure after a woeful Copa America in 2015 and an equally poor start to World Cup qualifying, Brazil coach Dunga seems wholly aware that his job is at risk and he may not make it to the next round of qualifying in September. For the first time in Brazil’s history they find themselves outside of the top five places in qualifying and any disappointment in this Copa America Centenario or at the Olympic Games in August will surely see Dunga out of a job.

With that in mind, the typically hard-headed Dunga is looking to change his ways, listening to his critics in a bid to keep himself in gainful employment. He has ditched his signature formation with two ball-winning defensive midfielders in favour of a far more creative style. Instead of waiting for opportunities on counterattacks, Brazil are moving the ball up the field themselves, creating space with intelligent passing.

The best example of the New Dunga came in Wednesday’s match when at 4-0 up he decided to bring off his last remaining defensive midfielder, Real Madrid’s Casemiro, replacing him with Santos playmaker Lucas Lima. While this was a completely understandable switch within the context of the match, it is not something Dunga would have done a year ago.

4. Brazil will finish top of Group B

Thrashing: Brazil spanked Haiti 7-1 last night

Despite being drawn into a fairly easy group against three opponents who typically do not travel well, Brazil’s credentials for winning their group were called into question after their 0-0 draw against Ecuador at the weekend.

Dropping points in their opener meant that the Seleção would have to go out in search of goals in their remaining two fixtures, making this 7-1 win absolutely vital.

In this Copa America, with venues spread out across the continental United States, winning Group B is imperative for Brazil given the tournament’s schedule. Brazil’s final group game against Peru will be played on Sunday evening in Massachusetts and upon winning the group they would face a short journey to New Jersey to play their quarter-final against the second-placed side from Group A.

Were they to finish second, Dunga’s men would face a 3,000-mile trip across the country, with 24 hours less to prepare, to play the winners of Group A in Seattle.

5. Haiti not up to scratch

While the North and Central American sides in this Copa America have generally looked well-organised and difficult to beat, Haiti bucked this trend with an altogether hopeless performance against Brazil.

Despite a decent opening ten minutes, where Patrice Neveu’s side looked to remain deep in their own half in two defined banks of four, their game plan came undone after Coutinho’s opening goal. The Liverpool man received the ball in a huge pocket of space between the Haitian defence and midfield, drove towards the penalty area and scored with an impressive finish.

From then on, the Haitian defending only got worse, with goalkeeper Johny Placide inadvertently setting up Brazil’s third goal, throwing the ball directly to Daniel Alves who crossed for Renato Augusto to head into the net.

Teams

Brazil: Alisson, Daniel Alves, Gil, Marquinhos, Filipe Luis, Casemiro (Lucas Lima), Willian, Elias (Walace), Renato Augusto, Coutinho, Jonas (Gabriel).

Haiti: Placide, Goreux, Genevois, Jerome, Jaggy, Alexandre (Hilaire), Alcenat (Maurice), Marcelin, Lafrance, Louis, Belfort (Nazon).

CREDIT:Mirror