Neymar stunner gives Brazil 1-0 victory in friendly
8 Sept 2014 3:50 AM IST
A superb 83rd minute free-kick from captain Neymar gave Brazil a winning start under new coach Dunga as they beat Colombia 1-0 in a fiercely contested friendly on Friday. It will take more than a win of this nature, against a team reduced to ten men for the last 41 minutes, to put the harrowing 7-1 loss World Cup semi-final loss to Germany out of Brazil’s minds but Dunga said the win was a confidence booster.
‘It is always good to win, especially with the criticism after the World Cup, some of which was very strong. This will help the players to regain self-esteem and confidence. I told them that they are here because they are the best and they have dreamt their whole life to be here.
‘They should not be afraid and just have to go out there and play,’ said Dunga who is in his second spell as Brazil coach after taking over from Luiz Scolari. Colombia midfielder Juan Cuadrado was sent off in 49th minute following a second yellow card for a foul on Neymar and there was no shortage of effort, or indeed rough challenges, from both teams.
The game marked the start of the new four year cycle for both countries as they begin to look to the 2018 World Cup in Russia but the impact of this year’s tournament in Brazil was clearly still fresh.
Colombia’s last outing was their infamous 2-1 defeat to Brazil in the World Cup quarterfinal, a match which saw Neymar suffer a tournament ending injury after a knee in the back from Camilo Zuniga.
Zuniga, who became a hate figure in Brazil, and Neymar captained their respective teams and in a public display of reconciliation, they hugged each other on the field shortly before kick-off.
Despite that gesture Neymar came in for some rough attention from the Colombians, although at times his tumbles after challenges were close to laughable.
With the numerical advantage after Cuadrado’s dismissal Brazil enjoyed the better of the game but it was not until seven minutes from the end that they broke through, a curling 25 metre free-kick from Neymar that flew into the top corner out of David Ospina’s reach.
‘It is always good to win, especially with the criticism after the World Cup, some of which was very strong. This will help the players to regain self-esteem and confidence. I told them that they are here because they are the best and they have dreamt their whole life to be here.
‘They should not be afraid and just have to go out there and play,’ said Dunga who is in his second spell as Brazil coach after taking over from Luiz Scolari. Colombia midfielder Juan Cuadrado was sent off in 49th minute following a second yellow card for a foul on Neymar and there was no shortage of effort, or indeed rough challenges, from both teams.
The game marked the start of the new four year cycle for both countries as they begin to look to the 2018 World Cup in Russia but the impact of this year’s tournament in Brazil was clearly still fresh.
Colombia’s last outing was their infamous 2-1 defeat to Brazil in the World Cup quarterfinal, a match which saw Neymar suffer a tournament ending injury after a knee in the back from Camilo Zuniga.
Zuniga, who became a hate figure in Brazil, and Neymar captained their respective teams and in a public display of reconciliation, they hugged each other on the field shortly before kick-off.
Despite that gesture Neymar came in for some rough attention from the Colombians, although at times his tumbles after challenges were close to laughable.
With the numerical advantage after Cuadrado’s dismissal Brazil enjoyed the better of the game but it was not until seven minutes from the end that they broke through, a curling 25 metre free-kick from Neymar that flew into the top corner out of David Ospina’s reach.
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