Neymar inspired Brazil beat USA

Brazil playmaker Neymar Washington - Arabstoday Brazil playmaker Neymar scored one goal and set up two more to spark the five-time FIFA World Cup™ champions past USA 4-1 on Wednesday in an international friendly. The Brazilians used the match to study talent ahead of London 2012 while the Americans prepared for next week's start of their qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil by facing a young squad with 17 Olympic-eligible players. "It's not every day one can apply dribbling over the head and between the legs, but I had a goal and two decisive passes, so I'm pretty happy about that," Neymar said. "It's a great satisfaction. We all knew the doors would open for the national team and we're all happy about that." A crowd of 67,619 saw the Brazilians end a five-match winning streak for the Americans, including a 1-0 victory over hosts Italy in February and a 5-1 rout of Scotland last Saturday in their run. The Brazilians improved to 16-1 all-time against the Americans, winning for the ninth time in a row since suffering their only defeat, 1-0, in 1998. "I didn't expect this, really," Brazil coach Mano Menezes said. "But I saw the confidence of young players and I knew we could trust them. The response was very good. "You can see in the faces of the players they can feel the accomplishment. We played better than we did against Denmark. We need to improve every game." USA coach Jurgen Klinsmann was impressed with Neymar and his team-mates, but sees flaws compared to past Brazilian dynasties. "Neymar and the technical skills he has, he has the freshness to try things out - he does things you don't expect," Klinsmann said. "They have a very good young team. It's a promising team. But it's a beatable team." Neymar's early impression Neymar opened the scoring on a penalty in the 12th minute after USA defender Oguchi Onyewu was deemed to have a blocked a shot with his left forearm at the top of the penalty area. The 20-year-old Santos striker, who has attracted interest from several of the world's top clubs, sent Tim Howard the wrong way, netting his ninth goal in 17 matches for the Selecao. Mano Menezes' side then took a 2-0 lead in the 26th minute when Neymar lofted a corner kick into the heart of the penalty area and Brazilian captain Thiago Silva headed the ball home. Herculez Gomez struck back for the hosts in the 45th minute, taking a cross from onrushing defender Fabian and deflecting the ball past Brazil goalkeeper Rafael to trim the deficit to 2-1 at half-time. Neymar set up Brazil's third goal from the backline to the right of Howard, flicking a backward centering pass to Real Madrid defender Marcelo, who blasted the ball past a helpless Howard in the 52nd minute for a 3-1 Brazil lead. Fulham striker Clint Dempsey, coming off a groin injury, replaced Landon Donovan for the Americans in the 56th minute and had a solid scoring chance that was cleared off the line in the 62nd minute by Brazil midfielder Romula. Brazil closed the scoring two minutes from time with a left-footed blast by AC Milan's Alexandre Pato. The Americans play their final qualifying tune-up match on Sunday against Canada in Toronto and begin their 18-month FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign on 8 June against Antigua and Barbuda in Tampa, Florida.