Brazilian Reds reach World Cup quarter-finals

The South Americans swept aside South Korea in a scintillating round-of-16 tie in which they were four goals to the good at half-time. 

Casemiro played the full 90 minutes and was ever-present in the middle of the park to keep the opposition at bay for the majority of the game. 

Fred and Antony were unused substitutes but our fourth Brazilian Red, Alex Telles, has unfortunately withdrawn from the squad and will miss the rest of the World Cup after picking up an injury. 

Just as the scoreline suggests, Tite's side dominated the game from start to finish. 

Their opening goal would come inside the first 10 minutes, after Raphinha evaded his defender on the right wing, fizzing a ball into the box that found Vinicius Jr. in acres of space. The Real Madrid man took his time before finishing emphatically despite the presence of the onrushing Korean defenders. 

Just moments later, Richarlison was brought down in the box and the referee made no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Neymar, who returned to the team following a spell on the sidelines through injury, stepped up and slotted the ball past Kim Seung-gyu to double Brazil's lead. 

Richarlison was at the heart of a sublime team move from the Brazilians on the half-hour mark. The Tottenham Hotspur forward brought down the ball after a lovely piece of skill, triggering a quick one-touch move on the edge of the box, with Thiago Silva playing a defence-splitting pass into Richarlison, who made no mistake when one-vs-one with the keeper. 

The game was all but finished before half-time, with West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta handing the final blow to South Korea's hopes of making it to the last eight. 

Vinicius Jr. was involved once again, this time creating the goal. His lofted ball into the box fell to the oncoming Paqueta, who volleyed beyond Kim Seung-gyu to make it 4-0.

Tite's side relaxed somewhat in the second half, allowing South Korea back into the game. 

And the Asian team managed to pull a goal back, through Park Seung-ho who produced a special strike to beat Alisson between the sticks. A free-kick was whipped into the box and cleared into the feet of the 25-year-old, who unleashed a phenomenal effort from outside the area that swerved into the back of the net. 

But it would ultimately be nothing more than a consolation goal, as the Koreans bowed out of the World Cup.  

For our trio of Reds, however, the quarter-finals await. 

After beating Japan in a tense penalty shootout earlier today (Monday 5 December), Croatia will be the next test for Brazil.

That game is scheduled for Friday 9 December, with kick-off at 15:00 GMT.