90 min: We are going to have 2 minutes of additional time.

Here is the sixth goal.

85 min: Brazil playing like the old Brazil now, passing back and fourth, possession mixed with trickery. Nice to see.

Here is Placide’s incredible stop.

82 min: Maurice comes on for Alcenat for Haiti.

79 min: Placide again with two great saves. I know he’s conceded five goals but he has been heroic in this half. And then....a one hand grab like he was Odell Beckham Jr. Amazing.

77 min: WOW. What a fantastic save by Placide as Willian with a bullet at goal. Prior to that a fantastic pass to Gabriel who does everything he can in order for Willian to take the aforementioned shot.

74 min: The hope for Brazil is now to avoid injuries. Will Dunga regret not taking off Coutinho? The Liverpool attacking midfielder takes a soft shot that goes wide.

Marcelin’s goal.

Lucas Lima’s goal. A great header.

71 min: Wallace replaces Elias for Brazil. Let me guess, he’s gonna score soon.

Proof that it’s always Chelsea’s fault.

Gabriel’s goal.

61 min: Lucas Lima comes on for Casemiro who won’t play against Peru due to suspension. Hillaire replaces Alexandre for Haiti.

54 min: A fantastic ball to Dani Alves on the right hand side from practically the half-way line but keeper collects. Brazil keep on coming.

51 min: Haiti are definitely pushing more as Nazon with a nice run and a decent shooting position but ultimately it comes to nothing.

48 min: And it could have been a fourth as Willian with a great shot from the right hand side but it goes wide.

Peter writes a fair point:

“Before today’s halftime brace, the last time Philippe Coutinho scored more than one goal in a game was against Chelsea in October. 2015/16 vintage Chelsea, and now Haiti. See the pattern? It’s not that hard to score against abject opponents.”

Great observation, Peter. Though I would give more credit to Coutinho. 8 goals and 5 assists, though not incredible, is still pretty good for a player whose real threat comes from breaking midfield units apart. His real work is not measured by scoring, i think.

Renato Augusto’s header.

43 min: Brazil looking for more goals as they pass it with ease across the midfield. Haiti have it all to do in the second half. A nice counter by Haiti gets stopped as Brazil are so quick to regroup.

37 min: A yellow card for Casemiro and he will miss the last game against Peru.

Here is Coutinho’s second.

31 min: Wow. Well, that could have been a 30 minute hat-trick for Coutinho as Willian runs through the middle, lays it off to the little Brazilian who forces a great save.

Getting a few emails as people worry about my sanity. I’ll make a phone-call tomorrow, I promise!

27 min: Brazil very comfortable on the ball as they look for a second but Haiti not giving up as they continue with their shape. Slowly, though, they are seeing more of the ball albeit not doing much with it.

Ian writes:

“I think it is not too presumptuous of me to say that I speak for other Liverpool fans in both loving when Coutinho scores and plays well and hating it for the inevitable stories I then have to try and ignore of bids from rich French clubs.”

22 min: Brazil keep on threatening and Alisson still an spectator. Haiti entered the final third but nothing came from it.

Vintage Couts.

17 min: Filipe Luis with great skill on the left hand side but nothing comes from it. Coutinho is causing so much attention that there are oceans of space out wide.

That would have been very harsh I think, especially as it was in the 50th second of the game.

11 min: The attack keeps coming from Brazil and Haiti are hanging on. Most of the threat coming from the left hand side.

Agreed. He would do the same thing as a player.

7 min: A long deflected shot by Casemiro just goes wide! Corner for Brazil. Foul and Haiti start again.

6 min: One thing that we noticed from Haiti’s first match against Peru is that it takes them a while to get settled. If they can remain scoreless for the first 20 minutes who knows what might happen. A long shot by Coutinho gets picked by the keeper.

**Cue Beck**

2 min: Well that didn’t take long to see the first kind of threat by Brazil. Coutinho breaks through the middle but his shirt if pulled just outside the area. Free-kick taken by Willian and it’s just over the bar. To be fair, this is one of the tallest walls I have seen in a while.

Here come the players ready for their anthems. I do hope there are no technical difficulties. First up, Brazil, which is always a good one. Wikipedia describes it as Parnassian in style and Romantic in content. Now Haiti. To commemorate the 100th year anniversary of the Haitian Revolution, a competition was held for a national anthem in 1903. This is it. Next up you hear from me it will be from kick-off.

Gareth writes:

“Hi Luis, I don’t think you’re insane for thinking that Haiti can win. But I’m no psychiatrist.
I’d suggest they’d think you are. Secretly hoping you’re right. Cheers mate.”

Thanks, my good man. Now you guys have me worried for my sanity.

The players are in the tunnel and are getting ready to enter the field. Both in their classic home kits. This appears to be a great crowd, two nations famous for their vibrant and colorful personalities.

operative word there being “maybe....”

87% of Univision viewers voted for a Brazil win. 3% for Haiti. Am I insane by thinking the Caribbean squad can get a result tonight?

By the way, you know that Bud Light commercial with Seth Rogen, Amy Schumer and Michael Peña? The Mexican version is much better.

Here is FS1’s video.

A good point by Rob Stone. Not one player who played in the 7-1 loss at the World Cup is on the team right now.

Not in the starting line-up, on the bench.

FS1 showing footage from the aforementioned 2004 game between Haiti and Brazil. They have been doing a nice job with these Copa mini-docs.

Either way...entertainment guaranteed.

**Plays Under Pressure on Spotify**

Haiti’s starting XI:

Here is Brazil’s line-up.

Luis will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s Aaron Timms on why USA were indebted to the old man Clint Dempsey:

Dempsey, meanwhile, seemed liberated by the early penalty and produced some of his best moments in a US shirt throughout the first half. The former Fulhamstar has never been an out-and-out striker; even during his salad days he operated more often as a hybrid forward-playmaker, an all-purpose creator-in-chief with the license to roam across the front line and into the space behind. Klinsmann’s plan, we can assume, was to use him in a similar way. Against Colombia, this failed spectacularly. Dempsey’s creative spirit was shackled by the leadenness and ineptitude of those around him; eventually he was left with little option but to try his luck from distance. Last night, by contrast, he finally had a willing support cast out of midfield to enable his passing artistry to flourish. And flourish it did, with thrilling efficiency.

Earlier in his career Dempsey had the neat hair, easy skills and sunny charm of a southern matinee idol. The Texan drawl and the buzzcut endure, but now there’s a darkness to the veteran front man, an edge of cynicism perhaps: the eyes sink deeper, his face is more gaunt and lined, and he stands over every dead ball, watchful and still, as if meditating on some dark conspiracy. In many respects he is the closest thing this US team has to a character off Game of Thrones – a master schemer plotting from the shadows. Here he was at the peak of his powers, and little of what made this such a complete performance from the US – the pressing, the lightning counter-attacks, the ball rotation, the snappy combination plays – would have been possible without him. If Bradley is the US team’s heart, Dempsey is its brain.