BRAZILIAN SELECAOS EDGE SERBIA AS PORTUGAL STAND TALL TO BEAT GHANA'S BLACK STARS 3-2

Ricaharlison Andrade repayed Brazilian tactitian's Tite faith in him by scoring a double that saw them start their world cup quest 2-0 winners against Serbia. The red hot south Americans who were classified as top favourites to claim glory in Qatar alongside fellow South American rivals Argentina, who fell to a shock 2-1 defeat to Saudia Arabia on Tuesday, began with a shaky start before growing into the game.Serbia had their moments in the first half as they managed to beat off pressure from the Brazilians but they would unfortunately tumble in the second half as Richarlison would score into an empty net after Serbian goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic spilled a Vinicius Junior effort on 62 minutes. Vinicius would again prove influential driving into the area off the left wing before teeing up Richarlison for an exquisite acrobatic finish 11 minutes later. Brazilian flare and attacking threat highlited the second half as Alex Sandro would see his rocket of an effort kept out by the sidepost before Manchester united based Midfielder Casemiro would rattle the crossbar with another brilliant effort.The Brazilians became only the second team of American origin after Ecuador to win at this world cup , doing so with a similar scoreline as Ecuador who beat Qatar 2-0 on opening day.This is after fellow American states such as USA drew 1-1 with Wales while Mexico and Uruguay were held to barren draws by Poland and South Korea respectively. Argentina lost 2-1 to Saudi Arabia putting an end to their 36 game unbeaten run , while Canada lost 1-0 to Belgium before Costa Rica were humbled 7-0 by Spain , in a game where La Roja showcased pure dominance.

In another game, Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal survived a Ghanaian scare to win 3-2. All goals would come in the second half as Ronaldo scored from the spot for the opener before former West ham man Andre Ayew would draw Ghana level, only to fall behind by two goals again after a quick Portuguese fire back from Joao Felix and Rafael Leao. Osman Bukari would fire one back for 3-2 , setting up a grand stage finale towards the finish. He celebrated by doing the famous iconic Ronaldo Siuuu celebration , what he explained as getting carried away by emotion for scoring a world cup goal for his country rather than disrespect for the five time balon d'or winner. Portugal  however had their mouths in their hearts in the last minute as Diogo Costa failed to notice a cheeky Inaki Williams hide behind him after he had claimed the ball from a cross. Costa put the ball down to launch it long but Inaki Williams pounced on it like  an elite poacher but unfortunately went to ground after slipping , allowing the Portuguese defence to clear his effort off the line, as it lacked power behind it.That was a slip that denied Africa of their joy since it's a well known fact that when an African nation plays at the world cup , the entire Africa is behind them.