New York, June 14 (IANS) The five-time winners Brazil and Qatar 2022 semi-finalists Morocco shared the spoils thanks to two equally brilliant goals from Vinicius Jr and Ismael Saibari in the Group C match here on Sunday.

The meeting between the Brazil and Morocco, who became the first African nation to reach the last four ended in a 1-1 draw in front of a packed New York Stadium.

Interestingly, this is the first match in which Vinicius Jr has scored for Brazil which has not ended in victory. The previous eight occasions all helped secure a win.

Morocco stunned the Selecao, when Brahim Diaz split the Brazil defense with a delightfully weighted through ball which Saibari ran onto and lifted beyond the on-rushing Alisson, although the lead did not last long.

There looked to be little danger when Vinicius Jr was fed by Bruno Guimaraes wide and deep on the left of the penalty box, but he cut back inside and unleashed a blistering right-foot effort which rocketed beyond the helpless Yassine Bounou.

Just before halftime, Lucas Paquetá tried a spectacular trick shot, but the goalkeeper, Bounou, dived to his left and saved it. In the second half, Bounou made another good save after Vinícius passed the ball back to Raphinha.

At the end of the game, the other goalkeeper, Alisson, was just as sharp. He dived to block a long shot from Neil El Aynaoui, and then quickly jumped on the ball to stop Ayoube Amaimouni from scoring the rebound.

“I think we didn’t start very well, I’m a little worried. We lost a lot of duels and possession, but we improved in the second half of a difficult match, because Morocco is a good team. In the first half, we had difficulty getting out of the pressure, we could have had more control. Was I Satisfied? Not really. I expected a better start. But things can happen. Now I’m going to focus on the next game,” said Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti.

–IANS

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