At times, football can make the country of its origin feel awfully wanting. 

Watching Brazil demolish South Korea (4-1) in what looked like a computer-game on greasy grass yesterday made me wonder whether the game had its origin in the playgrounds of English public schools or in the pampas of South America. 

(Full and unapologetic disclosure: I am a lifelong fan of Argentina).

The Brazilians were passing the ball as if they were out to make all the shapes available in a trigonometry textbook on the football pitch. 

They didn’t quite defy gravity, yet almost. It was also song, dance and the usual sublime drama by Neymar. Restrain of any form is never a norm when football is played only on special effects. 

Altogether, the match was an enticing invitation to soak in the riotous joy of football and relax in the simple pleasures of life. 

Neymar, Richarlison, Raphinha and Vinícius Júnior were breezy wizards in the first half.  Had football been a forty-minute game, this could have been one of its finest essays: audacious stepovers and awe-inspiring flicks -- everything that made one think whether these guys had bones in their bodies. 

They played the beautiful game in the most beautiful way against the exhausted Asians. This might not be the greatest of the Brazilian teams. But the way they played football was simply great. History is witness that the greatest teams hardly lift the cup. Brazil had the best of the team in 1982 and Italy won the trophy with a squad where every player only played for domestic clubs. 

The subway to the finals is still some distances away. Till then rejoice in the frenzied whirl of yellow shirts that made the sultry Qatar less sultry yesterday, all of you Brazil fans.