Brazil vs South Korea 19/11/19

19 November 2019

Brazil will try to overcome a severe crisis when they take on South Korea in a friendly meeting this week at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

The reigning South American champions have endured a torrid time since lifting the Copa America trophy in July, failing to pick up a win in five of their post-tournament friendlies (D3, L2). While two of those stalemates came via the same 1-1 scoreline, both of Brazil’s defeats in that period have seen them lose 1-0. Tite’s men have been particularly ponderous in the final half an hour, failing to find the net beyond the hour mark in all five of their previous outings. They can at least rely on the fact that they’ve won both of their last H2Hs with South Korea, scoring 2+ match goals on both occasions.

Meanwhile, the Koreans are enjoying a purple patch, having racked up a nine-game unbeaten run ahead of this fixture (W5, D4). What’s more, the Taegeuk Warriors have shut out their opponents in four of their previous outings, netting over 1.5 match goals twice in the process. But, Paulo Bento can’t be happy to know that his players have scored one goal or less per match in nine of 14 games they’ve played since the turn of the year. South Korea’s defense has, in fact, been their main strength in 2019, as they’ve kept a blank sheet in nine of those 14 games, limiting their rivals to a maximum of one goal per match in four of the remaining five.