The personnel largely stayed the same but it was a different Brazil team in the second half.
There was a purpose and intensity to their play that had been lacking in the first half and a number of tactical tweaks, mostly notably a willingness to get the ball into the box.
Brazil put in 12 crosses in the first half but generally tried to break down a stubborn Japan backline with the intricate, short passing you might expect of the South American side.
In the second, that was forgotten as they put 28 crosses into the box. Even taking into account six minutes of stoppage time, that is under two minutes per cross.
With runners arriving on the blindside of the defenders at the back post, Japan struggled to cope and it was little surprise that Casemiro’s equaliser came from this simple but effective ploy.
“Changes at half-time by Carlo Ancelotti made the difference,” former England full-back Stephen Warnock told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Japan couldn’t deal with their balls into the box.”
Ex-Celtic striker Chris Sutton added: “It is about finding a way. All the experience Brazil have, and enough in the tank to knock an excellent Japanese team out of the World Cup.”
There is a romanticism to the idea of Brazil as a side full of attacking flair, playing carefree football, and Ancelotti is not a coach who would want to stamp that out – but he is also aware that sometimes winning requires a different approach.
“The only acceptable outcome is victory. Is a brand of football enough? We can never be content with what we are doing,” he added.
“Was it a step forward? This was the more complete game that we played. We had more trouble in the first half because Japan were coming in strongly. In the second half we overcame it.
“I believe this is an evolution for sure. We struggled to find space at first but we are able to solve this problem very well.”
