Sunday Times

Now Colombia wait for Brazil

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BRAZIL’S focus now turns to Colombia on Tuesday, setting up what promises to be an enthrallin­g encounter between two sides jockeying for positionin­g in the Conmebol World Cup qualifying table. Playing on home soil and with momentum on their side, Neymar and Brazil could put on one heck of a show.

Brazil looked like they were doomed to a repeat of their scoreless draw against Ecuador in the Copa America — until Neymar decided he’d had enough.

Brazil rode a strong second-half performanc­e from Neymar to trump Ecuador 3-0 on Thursday, earning their first-ever win on Ecuadoran soil in the process.

Gabriel Jesus led the scoring with two goals, but the win was very much due to a dominant display from Neymar. He scored the opening goal and put on an absolute show to will his team to victory.

The 24-year-old Barcelona star forced the game forward. Ecuador were utterly unprepared for that, and Neymar pretty much single-handedly threw Brazil’s opponents into chaos.

The performanc­e should help silence many of Neymar’s critics, who call him a poor leader and a bad fit for the captain’s armband with Brazil.

Some have even gone so far as to say that he’s a bad fit for Brazil in general, since they seem to force the ball his way when he is on the pitch.

But if Neymar can put in more strong, CHUFFED: New Brazil coach Tite, appointed in June, is hoping for another outstandin­g performanc­e from his side on Tuesday team-shifting performanc­es like the one on Thursday, the critics will have precious little to complain about.

Meanwhile, new Selecao boss Tite was thankful after his first game in charge of the national team ended with a 3-0 victory.

Tite lauded Neymar and debutant Gabriel after his side’s victory.

He was full of praise for his team as a whole, and thanked Palmeiras coach Cuca for his work with Gabriel — as well as the Manchester City signing’s previous bosses.

“I have to be fair. Cuca, Marcelo [Oliveira] and Oswaldo [de Oliveira] worked with Gabriel. It helped me a lot, I talked to them,” he said. “It is my thanks. The victory was very much thanks to them.”

Tite also lauded Neymar, saying: “The whole team was good, and so was he.

“The Neymar of Brazil, originatin­g from Santos. A technical leader . . . he has several facets, competitiv­eness, behaviour. He fulfilled his role, closed space. The team had this spirit of solidarity.”

The victory was Brazil’s first win on the road in what has been a disappoint­ing qualifying campaign so far, with the five-time world champions lying in sixth place, outside automatic qualificat­ion before Thursday’s match.

Tite, who took over from Dunga after a humiliatin­g first-round exit at the Copa America in June, praised the Selecao’s teamwork.

“The whole team did very well, they had the spirit of solidarity,” he said. “We suffered a bit at the beginning, but we had the character to get the win.

“The players were great both physically and technicall­y. We’ll enjoy this moment and then evaluate.”

Tite also praised the contributi­on of his predecesso­r Dunga, saying the 1994 World Cup-winning captain and midfielder had laid the foundation­s for Thursday’s victory.

“It was partly the legacy of Dunga — because the players were already adapted to play in their positions,” he said. — goal.com and AFP

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