If you watched yesterday’s international friendly between the USA and Brazil then you know why Neymar is considered one of the selecao’s rising stars. A lot has been written about this 18 year old wonder kid and he did not fail to prove just why he is the centre of media attention in his native Brazil.
One goal each from Neymar and Pato was enough to give Mano Menezes his first victory as Brazil coach. You can now understand why the Brazilians were furious when Dunga excluded both these players from his World Cup squad in South Africa. Who knows, had they been in the team, we could be talking about their record breaking 6th tile right now.
For the number of chances Brazil created, the USA were lucky not to lose by a bigger scoreline. Robinho saw his effort hit the post as did Paulo Henrique (Ganso) another equally talented player.
If this is a glimpse of the new look Brazil squad, then i am already loving it. Dunga’s defensive and less than entertaining style of play has been replaced by a more attacking and flowing kind of football that has been the tradition of the Samba boys for as long as most of us can remember.
It therefore comes as no surprise that the man of the match was Neymar. With 4 years to go before Brazil hosts the World Cup on home soil, they are treating every game like a final. The World Cup is still a long way off, however, it does not hurt to get a good start.
Before that though, yesterday’s win will definitely give Menezes confidence as Brazil head into the Copa America. Here, the stakes are much higher as this is no friendly but a competition to find out who are the kings of South America football.
Photo credit: from Fashion Bubbles Old