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Brazil Ease Past Guatemala to Victory at 2019 Toulon Tournament
June 2, 2019
Brazil made a winning start to the Tournoi Maurice Revello on Sunday, as they were comfortable 4-0 winners over Guatemala in Toulon.
After a tight opening to the game, the Selecao took the lead through Pedrinho in the 19th minute, before Bruno Tabata was on hand four minutes later to double the Selecao's advantage.
Guatemala would have been fearful of a hammering at that point, although they were able to get a foothold in the match and prevent Brazil running up a much bigger scoreline.
The Selecao did add more gloss to the scoreline late on, though, as Wendel pounced to make it 3-0 and Douglas Luiz grabbed a late penalty.
While they struggled to penetrate a deep-sitting Guatemala defence initially, as the game moved on Brazil were getting more space and their class started to show. Matheus Henrique's smart buildup allowed Pedrinho the time to give the Selecao the lead, curling a low shot beyond the goalkeeper.
beIN SPORTS USA shared a clip of the opening goal from the Corinthians starlet:
After having their resistance broken, Guatemala did lose their concentration and Brazil were able to capitalise.
In the 23rd minute, Tabata found himself through on goal after an error from a defender and was able to keep his composure to double Brazil's advantage:
From that point on the South American outfit were content to keep the ball and were in total control of the contest at the break. In the second period, there wasn't too much urgency in their play for long spells either.
Pedro had a goal disallowed early in the second half and Wendel saw a shot smartly saved by Mario Mendoza. The latter did get on the scoresheet eventually though, with the Sporting CP star making the game absolutely safe in the 85th minute.
With Guatemala tiring, Brazil were able to pounce again when some sloppy defending allowed Luiz to make it 4-0 from the penalty spot before the final whistle.
Earlier in the day, host nation France got off to a winning start as they beat Qatar 2-0 in the other Group B game.
Brazil will meet France on Wednesday in what promises to be an absorbing game, while Guatemala will seek to get their first points on the board against Qatar on the same day.