Key events
Teams
Norway and Brazil make one change each. Julian Ryerson is back from injury to slot in at full-back for the Norwegians while the injured Lucas Paqueta is replaced by Gabriel Martinelli for Brazil.
Brazil: Alisson, da Silva Danilo, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Douglas Santos, Rayan, Guimaraes, Casemiro, Martinelli, Cunha, Vinicius Junior. Subs: Weverton, Ederson, Ederson Silva, Alex Sandro, Neymar, Raphinha, Bremer, Leo Pereira, Fabinho, dos Santos Danilo, Endrick, Luiz Henrique, Ibanez, Thiago.
Norway: Nyland, Ryerson, Ajer, Heggem, Wolfe, Odegaard, Berge, Berg, Sorloth, Haaland, Nusa. Subs: Tangvik, Selvik, Thorsby, Ostigard, Larsen, Aursnes, Bjorkan, Pedersen, Thorstvedt, Aasgaard, Schjelderup, Bobb, Hauge, Langas, Falchener.
Referee: Ismail Elfath (USA)
Leander Schaerlaeckens is at New York/New Jersey Stadium for us today and has some crowd news.
“Judging by the crowd filling into the arena here, it’s entirely possible that yellow is the only color that exists,” he writes.
Preamble
Hello! It’s the dark horses v the thoroughbreds today as Norway take on five-time champions Brazil for a place in the quarter-finals. There’s been a growing feeling in the last few days that Brazil are there for the taking – partly due to Norway’s impressive showings so far (apart from against France, when they rested their best players), Brazil’s fine-not-great finishes at the last two World Cups, THAT semi-final in 2014 and their problems against Japan and Morocco at this tournament. We shall see if those concerns are valid very soon…
Tom will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s Graham Ruthven with a short preview of today’s game:
Brazil are far from a perfect team, but Carlo Ancelotti is finding solutions to their problems. The comeback win over Japan in the round of 32 highlighted the quality of a team that was written off by some early in the tournament. This might not be a vintage Brazil outfit, but with Ancelotti in charge they have momentum.
Norway also have momentum after seeing off Ivory Coast in the last round. Most encouraging for Stale Solbakken was that Haaland and Martin Odegaard didn’t even play all that way. Instead, the likes of Antonio Nusa and Oscar Bobb stepped up to get Norway through. They’re more than just a one (or two) man team.
Player to watch: Vinicius Junior, Brazil – There will be no shortage of star power in New Jersey for this match, but Vinicius could be the most electrifying, and influential, player for either team. If the winger turns up, Brazil could have the edge.
