Casemiro Minutes From Substitution Then Casemiro Scores. Ancelotti’s Brazil Survives Japan.

HOUSTON — For about 45 minutes, it looked like Brazil’s World Cup was about to end in a very un-Brazilian way. Quiet. Flat. Losing to Japan.

Carlo Ancelotti stood on the sideline in his three-piece suit looking like he was waiting for a train that was already late. Lower heart rate than anyone in the building. That’s his thing. But even the calmest guy in the room needed something to change at halftime.

So he changed it. Pulled Lucas Paqueta. Sent in Endrick, the teenage hype machine who barely plays for Real Madrid. Then he sent in Gabriel Martinelli. Two subs. Two catalysts. And with 95 minutes on the clock, Bruno Guimaraes found Martinelli in the corner of the box and the Arsenal winger slotted a shot into the far post and Brazil walked out of NRG Stadium alive.

The final score was 2-1. The story was Casemiro.

The Guy Who Almost Got Hooked

Casemiro had a bad half. Awful, actually. He got booked for clattering Junya Ito. He stood flat-footed while Kaishu Sano blew past him to open the scoring in the 38th minute. He looked 33 and slow and like the version of himself that got benched at Manchester United. At the break, there was a real argument to pull him. Ancelotti kept him on.

Then Casemiro did what Casemiro does in big moments. He scored. A header from a Gabriel Magalhaes cross, planted into the net like he’s done in Champions League finals and El Clasicos his whole career. The equalizer came in the 73rd minute. Fifteen minutes later, Guimaraes and Martinelli finished the job.

That’s three times Ancelotti has won the Champions League with Real Madrid, and every one of those runs featured a last-gasp goal in the knockout rounds. The man has a habit. Brazil hired him to bring that habit to the national team. It’s working so far.

Japan’s Groundhog Day Problem

Japan was the better team in the first half. Sharper. Braver. They moved the ball through midfield like they’d been playing together for years, which they have. Sano’s goal was well-earned. But after halftime, they dropped. Sat deep. Invited pressure. Played like a team that couldn’t believe they were winning, instead of a team that deserved to be.

And that’s the thing with Japan at World Cups. They have never won a knockout match. Not one. Five tournaments, five chances, zero wins. This was supposed to be the year they changed that, especially after beating Sweden and pushing the Netherlands. But they retreated and Brazil punished them.

Brazil moves on to the round of 16. Against a non-European opponent, they’ve never lost a knockout tie since 1990. That streak stays alive. But the flaws are real. The fullback spot is a problem. Danilo gave the ball away on Japan’s goal and got booked trying to stop Daizen Maeda later. Casemiro was a ghost in the first half. Against better teams, those issues will matter.

For now, though, Brazil is still here. Ancelotti made the right calls at the right time. That’s the pattern. That’s what he does. And the next few weeks will tell us if this team can do what his best teams always do — win the games that look lost until the last minute.