Pearce is put on spot by Neymar
IT WaS the first glimpse of a Great Britain Olympic football team for more than 50 years, but most eyes were on the boys from Brazil at the Riverside Stadium last night.
If the pre-Olympic friendly was, in some ways, a throwback to the days when Brian Clough was banging the goals in down the road at ayresome Park, the accent was just as much on the future, as Brazil paraded some of the household names of tomorrow.
Predictably, they were too good for Stuart Pearce’s side, as Sandro and neymar gave Brazil a 2-0 first-half lead and the latter player, in particular, began to exhibit the full range of his extravagant skills in the second period.
There were some encouraging moments for Pearce, as Joe allen shone in midfield and micah Richards went close with an early header. The most encouraging point of all, though, may just be the realisation that his side will meet few, if any, better sides than Brazil when the tournament itself begins. Seldom can a pre- season friendly have generated such interest, with the first appearance of a GB Olympic football team since 1960 being beamed live across the nation by the BBC and a 20,000-plus crowd packed into a stadium bathed in late-evening sunshine.
It is unlikely too many have boasted such an expensive array of talent, either, with the market value of the Brazil team alone conservatively estimated at above £300million.
at least four of them are prime targets for some of the bigger spenders in the Barclays Premier League, with Ganso, Lucas, Hulk and Leandro Damiao all attracting interest and drawing a larger than usual turnout of scouts to Teesside. With Oscar also agreeing to join Chelsea for £25m, Pearce’s side looked to be up against it. as the first half unfolded, though, it was a potential domestic transfer that appeared to make most sense. Liverpool’s former Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers is doing his utmost to lure allen to merseyside from South Wales, and it was easy to see why as the busy midfielder squared up to neymar more than once and came out on top each time.
Refusing to be taken in by a typically elaborate neymar trick in only the fifth minute, the 22-year- old earned cheers all round, as the most coveted talent in Brazilian football lost possession and resorted to fouling the GB midfielder.
If allen was making the most of his opportunity to shine, the mere sight of Daniel Sturridge leading the attack was just as heartening, following his recent bout of meningitis. He looked none the worse for it, either, as he gave his marker marcelo the runaround with a turn of pace that looked as destructive as ever.
GB could hardly hope to keep the shackles on neymar, though, and after blazing carelessly over with just Jason Steele to beat in the sixth minute, he began to make his mark.
Taking charge of a free-kick that two of his team-mates were showing an interest in, his 12th-minute delivery from the right flank curled invitingly across the edge of the six-yard area for Sandro to steal in at the far post and head home.
GB might have equalised in the 15th minute, but for Thiago Silva being perfectly placed to clear off the line after micah Richards met Ryan Giggs’s far- post free- kick with a goalbound header.
Pleasing on the eye as they are, there is a darker side to Brazilian football that presented itself in the 32nd minute, as neymar crashed to the ground in the area, trying to win a penalty. He may have lost his footing, but there was little to account for the way he remained flat out and began rubbing the back of his head after finally climbing to his feet.
The crowd left him in no doubt about what they felt, and the boos were still ringing out when Richards tripped Hulk from behind and neymar stepped up to drill the 35th-minute penalty past Steele. There was a rebuke from the referee for the way he cupped his ears to the fans behind the goal, but he scarcely cared.
It underlined the showman in him, and it will doubtless be in evidence often enough over the next few weeks.
j.edwards@dailymail.co.uk