Brazil U20 4-2 Paraguay U20: Neymar immediately shines as nine-man Brazil record victory

Neymar was almost certainly the best-known player before the tournament began and the holders’ opening game saw him bag all four goals in a truly glittering display.

The first goal came from the penalty spot after 25 minutes; a fantastic run from Casimiro resulted in a foul by the goalkeeper. Neymar hit a soft penalty straight down the middle and must have been relieved that the keeper actually dived. Nine minutes later, some great individual skill saw him take the ball away from two defenders before beating the keeper at the near post: two nil. The hat-trick was sealed just after the hour mark when a very bad defensive mistake was punished by Neymar’s quick instincts as well as some luck; he hit the ball into the keeper which then rebounded back onto his chest before he nodded home from a couple of yards. If that was messy, the fourth was beautiful and came just three minutes later; a great long ball played out from defence was controlled neatly before an absolutely lovely chip beat the keeper and made it four goals in his first game of the championship.

Now, onto non-Neymar matters. Lucas and Alex Sandro were both talked about pre-tournament and both put in very impressive performances. Lucas got an assist for the second goal and really should have got a goal for himself with the score at two nil. He also forced an absolutely fantastic save from the Paraguay goalkeeper from a free kick. Alex Sandro was a constant threat marauding out of the left-back position and looks capable of terrorising many defences in this championship as an attacking full back.

Lets also mention the fact that Brazil finished the game with only nine men on the field. The game was very bad tempered with cards and scuffles aplenty and two Brazil players: Zé Eduardo and Henrique managed to pick up second yellows. In truth the numerical disadvantage was not made all too obvious in what was a good performance from Brazil.

Paraguay’s goals were scored by defender Diego Viera and Brian Montenegro who came on as a substitute. Aside from a brief spell of dominance after Brazil’s first red card (a spell which resulted in the first goal) Paraguay were second-best throughout this contest. Miguel Medina, their most highly-rated player was on the bench and will perhaps be called upon next game.

Players to look out for next time

Brazil

Neymar (Santos): Obviously.

Lucas (São Paulo): Really impressive performance from the midfielder, will be interesting to see if he maintains this level of performance against Colombia.

Alex Sandro (Santos): Like Lucas, was highly-rated before the tournament and justified all the talk with a very good display.

Bruno Uvini (São Paulo): Was absolutely solid at centre back and did not put a foot wrong. Also came very close to opening the scoring from a Neymar free kick early on.

Paraguay

Jorge Ortega (Tacuary): Probably the only Paraguay player to really impress. Others showed flashes of ability but Ortega can definitely be pleased with his performance.