Fred

NEYMAR IS KING. BRAZIL DESTROYS SPAIN

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Neymar's left-footed golaço past Iker Casillas. (Photo: AP Photo)
Neymar’s left-footed golaço past Iker Casillas. (Photo: AP Photo)

 

Neymar’s Triumph. Neymar’s Glory.

In a grudge match between Brazil and Spain with the Confederations Cup trophy on the line, Brazil was out to show the world that Brazil plays the best soccer in the world and that Spain is only a poor imitation of Brazilian soccer.

Brazil destroyed and demoralized Spain in a 3-0 goleada that put the world on notice.

Brazilians like Luiz Gustavo, Paulinho, and basically the entire Seleção set the tone from the initial whistle with ferocious tackling, intense pressing, and an outstanding amount of running that totally disoriented and dazed Spain like an Anderson Silva front kick to the face.

Brazil came out to play with so much intensity that Spain was engulfed and devastated from the opening kickoff.

The approach of the Seleção wasn’t purely psychological and physical intimidation, but rather Brazil brought its historic magic, guile, and trickery that had been missing from the Brazilian national team for several years until the beginning of the Confederations Cup.

Whether it was fueled by huge public protest about inadequate public services and infrastructure in Brazil or a growing sense of rage at the glorification of the style of soccer played by Barcelona and the Spanish national team, something motivated the Brazilians to deliver a level of overall intensity and collective group play that has almost never been seen out of Brazil.

Certainly several years ago, the Seleção displayed a degree of artistry and skill that made fans the world over want to watch Brazil play, but recently the Brazilian national team didn’t show the exciting and creative style of play that captivated audiences and made Brazil the pinnacle of world football.

Spain really was metaphorically body slammed and drop kicked out of Maracanã by the feared yellow jerseys of Brazil, and the emotional state of the Seleção totally disrupted the way Spain liked to play. While Brazil was very aggressive in its tackling, very few tackles were dirty or overly rough.

Brazil played like they really resented all of the praise that Spain has received for their smooth and graceful passing, which Brazilians fell like is a style of soccer that was invented in Brazil decades before Barcelona or Spain starting playing that way.

While Neymar was fantastic in his passing, his movement of the ball, and his overall display of talent, his left-footed golaço scored on Iker Casillas was particularly ruthless.

Without any hesitation, Neymar flamethrowered a left-footed shot at Casillas’ face, which went right over Casillas’ head due to the fact that the shot had to have looked like a blurr to Casillas.

Neymar’s left-footed golaço sent a message around the world like his other goals in the tournament have done, and this particular goal said “Even if you cover the near post, I can still crush a left-footed shot right at your head, and you still won’t have a chance.”

It was a sensational goal that should silence critics.

Spain enjoyed more possession, but it didn’t appear that way when one was watching the game as Brazil was constantly winning the ball back, darting toward the Spanish goal, and stringing together one-touch passes.

In a way, Spain and its players were not even a storyline, as their play was totally eclipsed by the attacking and defensive intensity that hit Spain like a tidal wave for the entire 90 minutes, and any chances Spain had were either rejected by diving saves from Brazil’s goalkeeper, Julio Cesar, or on one occasion a seemingly impossible sliding clearance that David Luiz somehow managed to clear over his own goal, despite making his interception on his own goal line.

Brazil almost bullied Spain, and any fouls on Neymar or any other Brazilian player were met with severe warnings from the rest of the Seleção, as they often surrounded and intimidated players from the Spanish national team.

The Brazilian weren’t violent or dirty, but they did seek to psychologically intimidate Spanish players like Sergio Busquets, Álvaro Arbeloa, and Gerard Piqué.

Spain was devasted by the Seleção in a true goleada that seemed to signal the return of Brazilian soccer to the top of world soccer.

While Spain has its passing and possession, every Brazilian national team player is equally or more capable of passing the ball like Spain, but the Brazilians have the additional element of superior individual skill on the ball, which can embarrass opponents in 1v1 situations.

Brazilian soccer is back, and Neymar has announced to the world that just might be the king of world soccer, and the player par excellence.

The Canarinho won as a team, and Brazil under Felipão has displayed that it has elite players at every position who can devastate opponents with inspired collective play and individual brilliance.

Today, Brazil played with a fire that burned on the inside, and Brazil will have to learn how to demonstrate close to or the same level of intensity in future games, as opposed to not being active enough without the ball.

This Brazil-Spain matchup was one of the most exciting soccer games seen in a long time, and Italy, Spain, Brazil, and Germany are all displaying a very high level of play that should make for competitive and exciting games before and during the World Cup.

France has a new crop of young players who may prove to be a force to be reckoned with, but Brazil showed that they have the capacity to thoroughly embarrass Spain. Now, Germany is the next team that Brazil has to prove itself against.

Anyone who doubted Brazil or Neymar should take a good, hard look at the passing, scoring, and overall skill that Neymar showed in this tournament against elite competition, and Brazil’s doubters should look at how skilled, complete, and deep Brazil is at every position.

Futebol arte is back, and Neymar is its king.

 

FIFA MATCH REPORT:

 

http://www.fifa.com/confederationscup/matches/round=255211/match=300222461/summary.html

 

GLOBO ESPORTE MATCH REPORT:

 

http://globoesporte.globo.com/jogo/copa-confederacoes-2013/30-06-2013/brasil-espanha.html

 

MARCA COVERAGE (SPANISH AND ENGLISH VERSIONS):

 

http://www.marca.com/eventos/marcador/futbol/2013/copa_confederaciones/final/bra_spa/

 

http://www.marca.com/2013/06/30/en/football/national_teams/1372577474.html

 

 

Balotelli vs. Neymar: Italy 2-4 Brazil

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Brazil was far more dangerous in the attack, but any look back at Italy’s two to four loss to Brazil has to be prefaced with the caveat that Daniele De Rossi and Andre Pirlo were unavailable to play and that Paulinho was being rested by Brazil to let his ankle recover.

 

Brazil deserved to win, and particularly Neymar’s third goal in three games was a free-kick golaço that had nothing to do with Italy’s line-up and everything to do with Neymar’s steady string of big performances on the world stage.

 

It’s worth repeating that Brazil too was a missing a vital player in its midfield: Paulinho. As one of the world’s best box-to-box midfielders and Luiz Gustavo’s partner in the defensive section of the midfield, Brazil was without one of its key ball winners and main protagonists in the midfield, and yet still Brazil won.

 

If Italy was missing De Rossi and Pirlo, then it’s fair to note that without Ramires even on the roster as a replacement for Paulinho, Brazil was itself missing half of what Italy was missing.

 

Both Italy and Brazil were without at least one major midfield piece, and this affected how Italy and Brazil played.

 

Without Pirlo and De Rossi, Mario Balotelli lacked two of the players who are most responsible for either ensuring that Italy has a strong percentage of the possession or providing Balotelli with final balls or at the very least, a steady stream of service.

 

Gigi Buffon was blamed for two of Brazil’s goals as he blocked two of Brazil’s shots as opposed to catching them, and given his skill level, perhaps blocking them was all he was able to do, despite what the commentators said.

 

One of Buffon’s blocks was purposely played away from the goalmouth but Brazil’s central defender, Dante, a native of Salvador where the game was played, pounced on the rebound and was in ecstasy as he scored in the Arena Fonte Nova, home of the team that he has been a fan of since childhood, Bahia.

 

Even without Pirlo and De Rossi, Italy was totally guilty of conceding the third goal to Brazil when Fred outmuscled the much stronger Giorgio Chiellini in the penalty box to roof a left-footed shot into the upper 90 on the left side of the goal.

 

In many ways, Brazil scored two legitimate goals, and Italy only scored one.

 

With a possible offside on Brazil’s first goal, a Neymar golaço on the second goal, a well-deserved goal by Fred on the third goal, and a mishandled shot by Buffon on the fourth goal, Brazil scored two totally legitimate goals compared to Italy’s one legitimate goal scored by Emanuele Giaccherini off a balletic backwards flicked assist by Balotelli.

 

Neymar versus Balotelli and Italy versus Brazil in this first Confederations Cup encounter doesn’t tell the whole story.

 

Even without De Rossi and Pirlo, Brazil deserved to win, but in the duel of Neymar versus Balotelli is far from over.

 

Neymar stole the headlines with his free kick golaço, but Balotelli’s backwards volleyed assist to Giaccherini was outrageously brazen. Neymar won, but Brazil almost had to resort to wrestling and kicking Balotelli to stop him.

 

The Confederations Cup isn’t over, and Balotelli and Neymar offer the world the chance to perhaps see the world’s most talented second striker (Neymar) and the world’s most talented first-striker (Balotelli) face off against each other again in this tournament.

 

Balotelli has learned how to keep his cool, and Neymar has learned how to body check and get more physical with opponents, in the hopes of deterring them from fouling him too much.

 

This new physicality was new from Neymar, and perhaps it brings him one step closer from being immune to comments from doubters who say he doesn’t have the physicality to play in Europe.

 

Neymar unfortunately hurt Ignazio Abate with his body check, but it was time for Neymar to start knocking people off him.

 

Some observers like to dismiss the absence of certain key players as the reason for a win by the other team, and other observers view the absence of key players as a valid and important piece of analysis.

 

Neymar and Balotelli both performed, and Italy and Brazil both advanced out of the group stage.

 

The battle between Balotelli and Neymar continues, and the additional subplot of seeing how Neymar and Balotelli compare to Spain loams on the horizon.

 

Balotelli and Neymar are coming for Messi, and Brazil and Italy are both coming for Spain…and Germany.