Casemiro Got Roasted Then Redeemed as Brazil Survived Japan in World Cup Nail-Biter

Brazil’s World Cup ride almost took a hard left turn Monday night. Down 1-0 to Japan at halftime, with the entire country holding its breath and a generation of young attackers struggling to find rhythm, the Seleção pulled off a 2-1 win that felt more like survival than dominance. And nobody had a weirder night than Casemiro.

The guy who’s been public enemy No. 1 for Brazil fans for the last two years — criticized for being too slow, too old, too whatever — was the one who sparked the comeback. A scrappy goal in the 62nd minute off a rebound that he had no business scoring from. Social media, predictably, lost its mind.

Memes of Casemiro sleeping through the first half. Then memes of Casemiro waking up and deciding to save the country. Then more memes because that’s just how Brazil fans cope with stress.

But the real story might be Gabriel Martinelli. Not Endrick, not Rayan — the guys with all the hype. Martinelli, who’s been quietly putting in work for Arsenal, scored the winner in stoppage time. A composed finish under pressure that sent the Brazilian bench into a pile-on and Japan back to the drawing board. Fans online noted that the kid with the least fanfare delivered the biggest moment of the night.

The reaction was instant and brutal

Brazilian Twitter (or X, whatever you want to call it) had two modes: roasting Casemiro for the first 45 minutes, then apologizing to him for the next 30. Someone posted a video of him losing his man on Japan’s opener with the caption “this is why he should’ve retired after 2022.” Then after his goal, the same account posted “I never doubted you, king.” Pure chaos.

There was also a lot of love for Japan, and deservedly so. They played fearless, organized soccer for most of the first half. Their goal was a thing of beauty — quick passing, a cutback, and a finish that left Brazil’s defense looking like they’d never met each other. If Japan had held on, it would’ve been one of the bigger upsets of the tournament so far.

But Brazil’s depth eventually won out. That’s the thing about this team — they can look disjointed for long stretches, then find a moment of individual quality. It’s not pretty. It’s not sustainable against top-tier teams. But it got them through to the Round of 16.

Next up for Brazil: whoever finishes second in Group H. Probably not Japan’s problem anymore.