'Never looked in control' - Casemiro & Gabriel called out for dismal displays in Brazil's World Cup draw with Morocco

England legend Alan Shearer did not hold back in his assessment of Gabriel, who endured a difficult World Cup debut. The Arsenal defender appeared to struggle with the pace of the game, notably being caught out of position. In the 21st minute, a lack of communication at the back allowed Morocco to take a shock lead. Ismael Saibari capitalised on the confusion between Gabriel, Marquinhos, and Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker, lifting a clever finish into the net from outside the area.

Speaking during the BBC's coverage, Shearer highlighted the lack of cohesion in the backline. "He’s looked shaky, Gabriel, today," Shearer remarked. "On two or three occasions the ball has gone out and I thought he could’ve attacked it and he didn’t. He’s been slow. Certainly with the goal in the first half, the gap between him and Marquinhos was huge."

It wasn't just the defence that came under fire, as former Liverpool and Brazil midfielder Lucas Leiva raised serious concerns about the balance of the team. Casemiro was the casualty of an unbalanced engine room, with the veteran midfielder hauled off at half-time following a difficult 45 minutes.

"Before the game we spoke about balance, Brazil never looked in control in the middle, Casemiro struggled a little bit and that’s why he got taken out at half-time," Lucas told CBS Sports. "Offensively, Brazil never looked dangerous, they didn’t create as much as we could’ve imagined. Overall it wasn’t a good performance, the balance of the team wasn’t right."

In the dugout, Ancelotti was honest about his side's shortcomings, suggesting that the pressure of the tournament's opening fixture may have weighed heavily on his players. The Italian watched as his side conceded early before equalising through a moment of individual brilliance from Vinicius Jr before the interval.

Reflecting on the performance, Ancelotti said: "I think we didn’t start the game well, the team was a bit worried, we lost a lot of balls, a lot of duels. The first half wasn’t good. It improved in the second half, it’s a difficult game because Morocco is a good team. A little anxiety, I think so. In the first stage, they [Morocco] would escape the pressure and make dangerous transitions. We could have had more control."

With Scotland's win, Brazil is now under pressure to top the Group C. The Selecao have to face a quick turnaround as they look to rectify these issues before their second fixture. Brazil play Haiti in their next World Cup match on June 19 in Philadelphia, where anything less than a convincing victory will only intensify the scrutiny on Ancelotti. Meanwhile, Morocco face Scotland in Foxborough on the same day to keep their hopes of going as far as possible in this summer's tournament as they have four years ago.