00:00Mateus Cunha scored twice as Brazil eased past Haiti 3-0 on Friday to breathe life into
00:06their World Cup campaign and close in on a spot in the last 32.
00:10After a much-criticized display in their opening 1-1 draw with Morocco, the five-time world
00:16champions underlined the gulf in class with outsiders Haiti, who became the first country
00:21to exit this World Cup.
00:23Cunha's scruffy goal in Philadelphia gave Brazil the lead midway through the first half,
00:28and he struck again as Carlo Ancelotti's side asserted their dominance.
00:32Vinicius Jr. added a third before the break.
00:35Brazil plays Scotland in their final group, C-game in Miami, on June 24th.
00:41Haiti's first World Cup appearance since 1974 will end after they play Morocco in Atlanta.
00:47The seal chow currently have the edge over Morocco for top spot on goal difference.
00:52If they finish first, they would face the group F runners-up likely to be the Netherlands,
00:57Japan, or Sweden in the next round.
01:00Neymar did not travel with the squad as he continues his recovery from a calf injury,
01:05prompting Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to joke he was working remotely.
01:11As promised, Ancelotti made changes after the insipid showing against Morocco,
01:16bringing United forward Cunha in for Brentford's Igor Tiago,
01:19and replacing Roger Ibanez with Danilo at right back.
01:22Despite a U.S. government ban, which has prevented fans traveling from Haiti,
01:28the Caribbean nation received loud support from the sizable Haitian diaspora,
01:32which filled roughly half of the 68,324 crowd.
01:37Aggrieved at not coming away with a point from their 1-0 loss to Scotland last week,
01:42Haiti coach Sebastian Migny urged his players to embrace the opportunity
01:46to play Brazil at a World Cup.
01:49With 77 places separating the nations in the FIFA rankings,
01:53Brazil quickly took control and thought they had scored when Rafinha fired home,
01:57only for the Barcelona winger to be flagged offside.
02:00It was a sign of what was to come though, and Brazil broke the deadlock on 23 minutes.
02:06Cunha sparked the move by winning possession in midfield,
02:09and, after Vinicius' shot was parried,
02:11he reacted quickest to block Hannes Delcoy's clearance to send the ball trickling into the net.
02:17Vinicius and Cunha combined again to double the lead,
02:20the former slipping his team made in behind the Haiti defense
02:23to blast in a powerful left-footed shot as he fell to the ground.
02:27Brazil lost Rafinha to injury but scored a third before halftime
02:31as Vinicius ran onto Lucas Piqueta's floated pass
02:35and steered through the legs of Johnny Placid.
02:37Haiti almost bagged their first World Cup goal in 52 years
02:41when Riccardo Aydes' glancing header at a corner forced Alisson Becker into a sharp stop,
02:46but it was a rare moment of hope.
02:48The introduction of 19-year-old Andrik as Ancelotti turned to his bench
02:53triggered huge cheers from Brazil supporters,
02:56who nearly had another goal to celebrate
02:58when substitute Gabriel Martinelli rattled the crossbar.
03:01Haiti refused to go down without a fight
03:04as Alisson made two late saves to preserve Brazil's first clean sheet in seven outings,
03:09turning the page on an underwhelming start to the competition.
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