Brazil only scraped through to the last 16 of the World Cup with a last-minute winner against Japan, but Alisson was absolved of the blame for his side’s woes.
Alisson‘s stay at the World Cup will extend into at least the next round after Brazil’s 2-1 victory over Japan on Monday evening.
It was far from a convincing win for Carlo Ancelotti’s side however, with Kaishu Sano putting Japan 1-0 up in the first half and the tie looking to go to extra time after Casemiro’s equaliser.
But Gabriel Martinelli scored in the sixth minute of stoppage time to set up a last-16 clash with either the Ivory Coast or Norway.
Still No. 1 under Ancelotti, Alisson made his fourth consecutive start at the tournament but was unable to build on back-to-back clean sheets against Haiti and Scotland.
However, there was little he could do about Sano’s powerful low effort to put Japan ahead and the goalkeeper was spared the majority of criticism in the media.
Globo‘s Cahe Mota rated Alisson a six out of 10, writing that he “wasn’t at fault for the Japanese goal, a shot that went right into the corner.”
DOHA, QATAR - Monday, November 28, 2022: Brazil's goalkeeper Alisson Becker during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group G match between Brazil and Switzerland at the Stadium 974. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
There was a six out of 10 from GOAL‘s Mark Doyle, who explained: “Some questions were asked of the Liverpool No. 1 over getting beaten from distance by Sano but he was at full stretch for a wonderfully precise shot and just couldn’t get anything on it.”
Zero Hora‘s Leonardo Oliveira was more critical, with a five out of 10 rating for Alisson, who he feels is “one of the best in the world” but “once again” conceded a shot from outside his box.
“Sano’s shot was well-placed, in the corner, but with enough speed to reach it,” the journalist wrote.
Should Alisson have saved Kaishu Sano’s goal?
The eye test suggests that it would have been a particularly difficult effort for Alisson to keep out, while FotMob valued the shot at 0.66xGOT – a high percentage chance based on the quality of Sano’s strike.
At full-time, Alisson and fellow goalkeeper Weverton went over to the dejected Japan players – including Takumi Minamino, who was unable to take part after an ACL injury – to console them after their exit from the World Cup.
Victory for Brazil means Alisson will certainly miss the start of Liverpool’s pre-season tour of the United States, which may now no longer be the case for four others.
With Germany and the Netherlands both exiting the World Cup on Monday night, Florian Wirtz, Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo are all likely to report back for training in the fourth week of July.