Football tournaments may resemble three times the average speed of a voice message on social media. Time flies by. Teams might come together out of nowhere or fall apart under the immense pressure of the competition just as fast.

Against Paraguay on Friday night, Brazil faced their stress test following a lackluster Copa América campaign. While their first performance against Costa Rica was far from disastrous, they were unable to score. After the scoreless draw, captain Danilo, who is regarded as a representation of cool, collected leadership, got into a heated argument with spectators.

A portion of the issue stems from the recent shortcomings of earlier Brazil sides, which leaves the current squad footing a bill they did not cause. Colombia, a Group D rival, easily defeated Costa Rica 3-0, which increased the strain even more. Brazil, therefore, knew going into their match against Paraguay that a loss would almost certainly mean elimination.

In contrast, Brazil’s 4-1 victory on Friday guarantees their spot in the quarterfinals absent a mathematical miracle. But along the road, they faced some monsters.Brazilian hearts have previously been broken by the Paraguayan people’s enduring endurance. They eliminated Brazil from the 2011 and 2015 Copa América competitions, and they threatened to make coach Dorival Junior’s team’s evening of trying to penetrate their defense a difficult one.

Even worse, Paraguay presented an attacking danger with Miguel Almirón trying to have a right at Danilo and Brighton’s Julio Enciso darting around. They produced the game’s first two deadly shots. Then, on the half-hour mark, Lucas Paquetá missed a penalty kick that Brazil had unexpectedly been granted for a hand ball.

By this moment, Brazil had not looked up for their stress test and some very serious questions were being asked. Did Paqueta feel the impact of the severe allegations of spot-fixing made against him? Bruno Guimarães plays for Newcastle, but could he ever dominate the Brazilian midfield? Did Brazil err by fielding a team without a designated center forward?

The group came up with some solutions in a matter of minutes. That could be remembered as a pivotal moment for this Seleção. Vinícius Junior entered the game from the left and passed to Rodrigyo. Later, Bruno Guimaraes dribbled a beautifully angled ball to Lucas Paqueta, whose lovely pass found Vinícius, who had resumed his infield run and entered the gap that was created by the lack of a center striker. And with 34 minutes played, Brazil had a 1-0 lead that had grown to 3-0 at the half, practically ending the game.

That was the crucial opening goal. Brazil would have to push more players forward if they were ahead, creating room for a counterattack by Brazil. The attacking pieces for Brazil were clicking. Most notably, Vinícius Junior was the one leading the group.