Brazil not glittering but fly past Japan

Two wins out of eight games in-charge and their pedigree for slow starts in tournaments had offered some reasons for anxiety for Felipe Scolari ahead the opening game of the FIFA Confederations Cup. But when you’ve got a Neymar, anything is possible, including greatness and low key performance. 

Scolari’s 2002 World Cup winning Brazil side scrap through a 2-1 victory in their opening game against Turkey and the same unimpressive lone goal margin victories against Croatia and Korea DPR in their first games of the following subsequent competitions. Indeed Cameroun who went on to reach the final of the 2003 Confederations Cup defeated the South American in the opening game of that edition.

But last night’s nerves were quickly settled by Neymar’s brilliance at National Stadium in Brasilia. Receiving a chest-cushioned ball from the Selecao’s number nine, Fred after a Marcelo cross, the new Barcelona’s 57million euros signing unleashed a cracking right-footed volley into the top corner of the Japanese net inside five minutes. It was perfect start that sent the colourful host fans into rapture. 

“I never stopped saying that Neymar is an amazing player. He may have moments when he's not at his best - which happens to everyone, but I never doubted that he's someone who can make a difference, like he did today," Scolari told FIFA.com after the game.

Japan were always going to be a tricky fixture but the Asians were shocked by the early goal and allowed Brazil to dictate proceedings very early on. Yet the South American champions still struggled for cohesion in their play, in the final third. Hulk who was chosen ahead of PSG winger, Lucas Moura was enjoying some space down the left, but his poor decisions were letting him and his teammates down.

Hulk’s incredible power and pace are great assets but more important is the end product. On one occasion when he had both Fred and Neymar to locate after muscling his way into the Japanese defence, he gave the ball away. He however powered a trademark shot into the side of the net.

But Oscar and Neymar, who made up the three behind Fred, were more composed with their play but found it difficult to break the Japan’s defensive discipline. The duo of Shinji Kagawa and Keisuke Honda were expected to spearhead the Asians’ counter attack but often times they found a stalwart in Luis Gustavo. The Bayern Munich midfielder was impressive for Brazil, supporting both Thiago Silva and David Luiz at centre back as well as prompting attack with his distribution.

Oscar was offering more purpose switching between the wide areas and complementing Neymar’s probing efforts. And when Brazil had to defend, the Chelsea man joined the duo of Gustavo and Paulinho to hassle and frustrate the guile of Kagawa and Honda.

More disappointing for Japan was their inability to exploit the weakness of Brazil’s attacking full backs, particularly Dani Alves who couldn’t also as much as Marcelo did, going forward. But the right back did locate Paulinho who swivelled and struck a low drive to double the lead three minutes into the restart.

Then after the injured Neymar was replaced by Hernanes, Oscar stepped it up and launched a great counter attack with pace, threading a delightful ball to another substitute, Jo, who slotted home the third through the legs of Eiji Kawashima in the Japan goal.

Official Man of the Match: Neymar