Neymar shines as Brazil thrash Panama 4-0

DPA/Rio de Janeiro

Brazil’s star striker Neymar, 22, was the man of the match played in the north-western Brazilian city of Goiania. He scored the first goal and assisted Hulk and Willian for two more. Right-back Dani Alves scored the hosts’ remaining goal.

Brazil, who are hoping to win the sixth World Cup title in their history, started out slow and lacklustre, but Panama failed to take advantage.

Many of the 31,000 fans who attended the friendly even cheered for Panama’s attacking efforts.

Things changed in the 26th minute, when Neymar scored from a free kick. From then on, Brazil became the powerful team it is supposed to be, and Alves scored their second goal before half-time. Hulk added a third just after the break, and Willian made things 4-0 in the 73rd minute.

“Neymar is a sportsman who does a different move everyday. He is good at improvising, he is very fast, very agile. He always surprises his coaches with some new move,” Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said after the match.

“Felipao” admitted that Brazil did not play well at the start of the match and that their mistakes could have led to a different result.

“In the first 15 or 20 minutes the connection between defence and midfield was not going well. It was not working, and if our rivals had been better the result could have been different. After that we improved. But we need to take into account that this group last played together something like three months ago, and they have only been training for seven days,” Scolari said.

At the end of the match, spectators in Goiania’s Serra Dourada stadium forgot their initial booing and enthusiastically cheered for Brazil, and particularly for Neymar.

“I am not ready yet, I’m a bit short of top form. I felt a bit tired towards the end of the match. There are nine days left, and I will gradually attain ideal fitness,” Neymar said.

He further asked Brazilian fans to be “a bit more patient” with their team.

Alves also highlighted the team’s need for the support of the home crowd.

“The connection with the fans is important. When it happens, the result is always positive,” Alves said.

Brazil will play the opening game of the upcoming World Cup against Croatia on June 12 in Sao Paulo. They are set to test themselves for the last time before that on Friday, in a friendly against Serbia.

Switzerland, who are at a level that allowed them to be seeded ahead of the upcoming World Cup, proved too much for the lowly Peru, who never came close to qualifying for the tournament.

However, in a friendly played in Lucerne, Switzerland, the hosts needed two late goals, one from a Stephan Lichtsteiner header in the 78th minute and another from Xherdan Shaquiri just five minutes later. The Swiss gave the impression of playing half-heartedly and saving their energy for events in Brazil 2014.

Switzerland are set to play the World Cup in Group E, alongside Ecuador, France and Honduras.

Greece and Nigeria played out a scoreless draw at PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania, which is home to the Philadelphia Union of the MLS. Liverpool winger Victor Moses was the only impressive player on the pitch.

Both teams will face tougher competition in Brazil. Greece are set to play in Group C, alongside Colombia, Ivory Coast and Japan, while Nigeria face Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran in Group F.