Neymar's penalty helps Brazil defeat Japan by 1-0
The Brazilian team along with Neymar Jr. are on a roll. After defeating South Korea in a friendly, the boys in yellow have now defeated Japan 1-0 in another friendly fixture. The positive sign for Brazil has been Neymar's form. The PSG veteran once again showed why he is considered one of the greats of the game. When Brazil took on Japan at Tokyo's National Stadium, nobody had expected the home team to restrain the boys in yellow. Japan had to play out of their skin and they did it extremely well until the 77th minute after Neymar Jr. was tripped inside the box.
Seeing a possible scoring opportunity, Neymar Jr. made the most out of it. This goal against Japan marks Neymar's 74th goal for Brazil and he is just three goals away from matching Pele's record of 77 goals. The world cup is fast approaching and the Brazilian talisman has been firing against the Asian teams who have qualified for the 2022 world cup. The Brazilian team finds themselves in a sweet spot as they have now stretched their unbeaten run to 13 games. On the flip side, Japan's woes against the boys in yellow continue as they are winless against them in 13 matches which includes 11 losses and 2 draws. The contest was all about bare margins and acknowledging this fact defender Marquinhos said "We expected this to be a tougher match, but we also played better against South Korea. We made some mistakes that gave them confidence. This is a good test against a team that is ready for the World Cup".
Considering their purple patch, Brazil is being considered one of the favorites along with defending champions France and is clubbed with Cameroon, Switzerland, and Serbia. On the flip side, Japan finds itself in a fix as they are grouped with footballing giants such as Germany and Spain. Brazilian coach Tite believes that the current team is better prepared as compared to the last world cup. He further added that he has been with the national team for a long time now and the previous cycle (2016-18) brought him the experience that he requires before his team heads into the mega event.
(Inputs from PTI)
