Brazil forward Neymar shot to the top of the World Cup scoring charts with a superb brace in a convincing 4-1 win for the hosts over Cameroon on Monday that sent them through as Group A winners to face Chile in the round-of-16.
After grabbing a brace in Brazil’s 3-1 win over Croatia in their opening game, Neymar was again the star of the show at an electric national stadium and with four goals leads a chasing pack on three including Germany’s Thomas Mueller and Karim Benzema of France.
Neymar struck twice in the first half either side of Joel Matip’s effort for the already-eliminated Africans, Fred nodded home at the start of the second and substitute Fernandinho added a late fourth.
Photo: AFP
The sparkling performance, with poster-boy Neymar wowing the crowd with his trademark flicks and feints, meant Brazil went some way to dispelling doubts about their title credentials following last week’s drab goalless draw with Mexico.
However, their title rivals will have noted with interest that Cameroon caused problems for the Brazil defenders and with more accomplished forwards, such as injured captain Samuel Eto’o, who was on the bench, they might have pulled off an upset.
“I like the way the team played,” Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari told a press conference. “There were some highs and lows, which is normal, and sometimes we lost the ball in midfield which made us anxious. Even though we had difficulties, we could have scored seven or eight and conceded a couple more goals. We have improved again and for the next game we should improve a little bit more.”
Photo: EPA
The fired-up Brazil players made a blistering start at the vast arena in the capital, where the stands had been transformed into a sea of yellow by expectant home fans.
Hulk, back in the side after recovering from a muscle strain, was causing early problems down the right, but Cameroon gradually played their way into the game before Neymar struck his first of the night after 17 minutes.
Luiz Gustavo won the ball on the left and his low cross was perfectly weighted for the 22-year-old, in space in the center of the penalty area, to deftly guide the ball into the corner.
Photo: Reuters
It was the 100th goal of the World Cup finals on Brazil’s 100th appearance in soccer’s global showpiece.
Cameroon refused to capitulate and were level nine minutes later when Allan Nyom squared for Joel Matip to side-foot into an empty net and momentarily silence the home fans.
Shouts of “Brazil, Brazil,” then rang out and the hosts were back in front in the 35th minute when Neymar ran at the defense and clipped a low shot past a wrong-footed Charles Itandje in the Cameroon goal.
Photo: AFP
Brazil made a similarly brisk start to the second period, with David Luiz popping up on the left wing in the 49th minute to chip the ball to the far post for Fred to head home.
Neymar came off to a rapturous reception and was replaced by Willian in the 71st minute, before Fernandinho clipped the ball into the corner after a well-worked move six minutes from time to complete an impressive win for the tournament favorites.
“The main thing today wasn’t the result, but the way the team played, getting back the spirit that we had in [last year’s] Confederations Cup,” Fernandinho said in a television interview. “In the first two games of the World Cup we missed that a bit.”
Cameroon, whose campaign has been wrecked by infighting and ill-discipline, depart having lost all three matches, conceding nine goals and scoring one.
Coach Volker Finke said he had been reasonably pleased with the Indomitable Lions’ performance in the first half, but criticized his players for not maintaining their concentration.
“It’s not the first time we haven’t focused for the whole 90 minutes, we need to find the reason for this,” Finke told a press conference. “Three times we had control of the ball and we lost it, and those goals were unnecessary. There were certain things that were quite positive, but it wasn’t enough for the World Cup. We need to look at reality, and as we are it’s not enough for this competition.”
READY TO GO: Lin, who got a first-round bye and is to compete in the round of 16 on Friday, said all she can do is ‘ignore what the haters say’ and focus on her bouts Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting, who was stripped of her bronze medal at last year’s International Boxing Association (IBA) Women’s World Boxing Championships after failing a gender eligibility test, has been cleared to compete in Paris, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Monday. Lin and Imane Khelif of Algeria, who had both been disqualified at the world championship in New Delhi in March last year, have complied with all rules to fight at the Games, the IOC said. They are now to compete in their second Summer Games, after both finishing outside the podium at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. “All athletes participating
China’s 24-year-old table tennis player Wang Chuqin was overjoyed on Tuesday after securing his first Olympic gold medal alongside teammate Sun Yingsha. His elation soon turned to disbelief, anger and frustration when he discovered that his new paddle — crucial for his singles and team events — had been damaged by excited photographers rushing to capture the moment. Visibly upset, Wang tried to ask for an explanation. His coach tried to hug him in an effort to console him and ask him to stay calm. Wang soon regained his composure despite the setback. “At that moment, I lost control of my emotions a little.
Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikec has become a social media sensation for his nonchalance at the shooting range at the Paris Olympics. A former officer of the Turkish Gendarmerie, Dikec combined with Sevval Ilayda Tarhan to win the silver in the mixed team 10m air pistol event on Tuesday. However, it was the 51-year-old’s casual attire as he fired with his other hand in pocket at the Chateauroux Shooting Center that prompted the myriad of memes. “Be cool like Yusuf Dikec,” the French embassy in Turkey wrote in a post on X. While most pistol shooters wear visors, chunky ear-defenders and shooting lenses with a
‘THANK YOU’: Following her loss to Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand on Wednesday, Tai said that she did not want everyone to know she was playing with an injury Tai Tzu-ying yesterday thanked her fans and her doctor after exiting at the Paris Olympics a day earlier, beaten 21-19, 21-15 by Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon and failing to reach the round-of-16 of the women’s singles badminton. Tokyo silver medalist Tai, who played with both knees in braces in Paris, had previously opened up about an issue with her left knee and earlier this year withdrew from the Singapore Open. “Before I came here I knew I would find it hard to play the game because of my injury,” Tai, 30, who plans to retire at the end of this year, said through