5 quick thoughts on how Neymar and Willian broke down Mexico’s defense for opening goal

Neymar’s finish may have been routine, but everything leading up to that moment was a thing of genius.

Neymar and Willian combined to score the first goal in Mexico vs. Brazil Round of 16 match on Monday, breaking up a long stretch of good Mexico play and drastically changing the match with a few kicks. How they did it is worth appreciating.

First, the goal:

Some quick thoughts on how it was created.

1. When Neymar receives the ball on the left side of the field with the Mexico defense unsettled, he knows they’re going to be paying attention to him. He’s one of the best players alive, after all. With things shifting so rapidly, and the defense trying to get back into place, Neymar doesn’t hesitate, rather taking the ball back across the field to the center, pushing back against the natural momentum of the defense and, as an added bonus, getting to the center of the field in the opponent’s end, where good things tend to happen.

2. When Mexico’s defense then tracks back and keys in on Neymar, following him with multiple defenders into the center of the field, he realizes they’ve become unbalanced again. So with everyone keyed in on him and tracking him moving across the box, he rolls it back to Willian, who’s got momentum heading now across the tide of defenders.

3. This is when Willian has his moment of genius, because he recognizes how off balance Mexico’s defenders are, so instead of just controlling the pass from Neymar, he takes a strong first touch into the box, knowing it will wrong foot Mexico’s defenders and he’ll be able to get a clean entry into the danger area. He processes all this information and makes it happen in about a third of a second.

4. Now it’s Neymar’s turn to recognize what’s happening. With the defense frantically trying to make up for their first mistake — ignoring Willian and keying in on Neymar — they’ve now overcorrected again. Mexico’s players are all frantically trying to get back and deal with the Willian situation, opening up the run to the front of goal, which Neymar makes.

5. From there, it’s simple soccer: Willian fires under the hand of Ochoa, Neymar puts his foot on it. The finish was simple. Everything up to that moment was brilliance — understanding momentum, figuring out a defense’s weak points, and taking advantage.