Houston, June 30 -- It seemed Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti had an obvious decision to make with his team trailing 1-0 at halftime of its World Cup round-of-32 match against Japan. Casemiro had to come off.
The 34-year-old had struggled to keep pace with Japan's swift counterattacks, mistiming tackles and misplacing passes in a midfield that looked slow and panicky.
The Samurai Blue's opener just before the half-hour in Houston was a case in point. Kaishu Sano intercepted Danilo's errant pass, breezed past a stationary Casemiro and rifled a clinical finish beyond Alisson.
Lucas Paqueta and Bruno Guimaraes also failed to make any meaningful impact, but Casemiro's performance drew the most attention. Already on a yellow card, he seemed to...