Brazil 1-1 Switzerland: World Cup favourites held by well-organised Swiss outfit
The five-time winners were far from their best in their 2018 World Cup opener in Rostov
Brazil's 2018 World Cup campaign got off to a stuttering start as they could only manage a 1-1 draw to Switzerland at the Rostov Arena.
Steven Zuber's second-half header cancelled out Philippe Coutinho's beautiful curling strike as both sides shared the spoils in a game where the Swiss effectively stifled the Selecao's array of talent.
The draw sees Brazil fail to finish the first round of fixtures at the top of Group E as Serbia secured a 1-0 win over Costa Rica earlier on Sunday.
The World Cup favourites were quite sloppy but were still able to establish a bit of a rhythm and dominate the first-half.
They should have taken the lead on 12 minutes, but Paulinho's effort from six yards out was pushed round the post by Yann Sommer after good work by Coutinho and Neymar.
But the deadlock was broken seven minutes later when the ball fell to Coutinho on the edge of the box and the Barcelona man produced a trademark curling strike from the left to give Brazil the lead.
Thiago Silva's glancing header nearly doubled their lead just before half-time as the five-time winners of the competition barely broke sweat.
However, Zuber took advantage of the Brazil's lethargic start to the second-half with a simple header from a Xherdan Shaqiri corner.
Brazil were adamant Zuber nudged Miranda in the back in the build up to the goal but referee Cesar Arturo Ramos Palazuelos was not interested.
Neymar nearly restored Brazil's lead on 57 minutes, but the £198million man's fierce shot could only find the side-netting.
Tite's side probed more and Coutinho was presented with a great chance to grab his and his country's second, but the ex-Liverpool man could only slice the ball wide at the crucial moment.
The referee then had to make a huge decision 15 minutes from time but Gabriel Jesus was adjudged to have gone down too easily in the box despite replays suggesting he was held by Manuel Akanji.
Substitute Roberto Firmino provided a fresh option going forward but the Liverpool star missed a glorious chance to win the game on 89 minutes when he could only head straight at Sommer.
A minute later, Miranda's shot through a crowd bounced just wide of the post as Brazil were forced to accept a point.
STAR MAN
Many would have been expecting the likes of Neymar, Jesus or Coutinho to run the defence ragged but the Swiss have to be given credit for preventing the Brazil players from fully expressing themselves.
Valon Behrami was given the task of stopping the main man Neymar and he generally did well in his endeavours.
Some of Behrami's methods of bring Neymar to the ground were not always by the book but the midfielder was able to strike an appropriate balance between being physical and being aggressive.
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MOMENT OF THE MATCH
Although Brazil were generally not very good, Coutinho's goal was a moment of sheer quality for the fans in Rostov to savour.
Coutinho collected the ball on the edge of the box before curling the ball brilliantly in-off the post, giving Sommer no chance.
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