The rain was constant in Brazil’s friendly against Japan at the National Stadium in Tokyo. while on the lawn the constant was Neymar who did not stop looking for the goal throughout the match and who achieved it from eleven meters. The Japanese with a strong defense held out for more than an hour but a maximum penalty changed everything.
Those of Tite went from less to more during the first half with a great Neymar as general captain of the Brazilian ship. Definitely, PSG was more of a leader than ever and did not hide at any time. He always offered himself and asked for the ball from his teammates, either to start play or to finish it, as was seen on his first two occasions. The Brazilian attacker had two clear actions to overtake his team, but the archer Gonda was in charge of avoiding it.
On Neymar’s first attempt, the Brazilian fired into the far post with great effect but Gonda put the gloves on. On the second occasion, he tried a shot at the near post but ran into the Japanese wall again. The good image of the PSG player contrasts with that of Vinicius who was seen more disappeared. The Real Madrid player felt somewhat uncomfortable without a figure of ‘9’ as a reference to lean on and unload the ball. In part, the bad image of ‘Vini’ was due to the fact that Tite decided to play with false nine, that function was carried out by Neymar and Paquetá, and already in the second half the coach took him away with half an hour to go.
Raphinha, the Brazilian wanted by Barcelona, was also very active on his right wing. He tried it from outside to inside and with several lateral centers but without much luck. Japan was well organized and did not hesitate to stop Brazil’s advances based on fouls. Neymar was one of the players who received the most kicks.
The second part also featured the rain and Neymar. Both reappeared on the field to repeat what was witnessed in the first minutes of the match. The Brazilian insisted on looking for his goal but not even the changes in Tite with the addition of Martinelli and Gabriel Jesús helped him find him in the opening minutes. Nevertheless, with the entry of Richarlison he gave more prominence to the PSG team by already having a reference. Through that freedom in the area came a penalty that the Everton man received and that ‘Ney’ did not miss.
A half-hearted Brazil with a stellar Neymar managed to prevail over a team that is going to be talked about at the World Cup in Qatar. We remember that Japan will face Spain in the World Cup.