{"id":142761,"date":"2018-06-03T14:44:22","date_gmt":"2018-06-03T18:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonfootball.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=142761"},"modified":"2018-06-03T15:14:41","modified_gmt":"2018-06-03T19:14:41","slug":"brazil-2-0-croatia-neymar-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2018\/06\/03\/brazil-2-0-croatia-neymar-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Brazil 2\u20130 Croatia: Neymar Scores On His Return"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brazil eased past Croatia in a World Cup warm-up game thanks to goals from Neymar and Roberto Firmino. The game was played at Liverpool’s<\/a> Anfield.<\/p>\n

Neymar opened the scoring with a wonder-goal on the 69th<\/sup> minute, making it his 54th<\/sup> goal for the national team. Firmino then\u00a0doubled Brazil\u2019s lead just before the final whistle in Liverpool.<\/p>\n

This was Neymar’s first appearance after recovering from a three-month injury that kept him out of PSG<\/a>‘s most decisive part of the season.<\/p>\n

Neymar Scores In Brazil Win<\/h1>\n

Players Ratings<\/h2>\n

Brazil<\/strong>: Alisson (7), Danilo (6,5), Marcelo (7), Thiago Silva (7), Miranda (7), Casemiro (8), Fernandinho (6), Willian (7,5), Coutinho (7) and Jesus (6,5).<\/em><\/p>\n

Subs<\/strong>: Neymar (8), Filipe Lu\u00eds (6,5), Roberto Firmino (7,5), Marquinhos (7), Fred (6) and Taison (6).<\/em><\/p>\n

Croatia<\/strong>: Subasic (6,5), Vrsaljko (6,5), Corluka (6), Lovren (6,5), Vida (6,5), Rakitic (6), Badelj (6,5) Modric (7), Perisic (5,5), Rebic (6,5) and Kramaric (6).<\/em><\/p>\n

Subs<\/strong>: Caleta-Car (6), Kovacic (6), Brozovic (6), Pjaca (5,5), Bradaric (6) and Jedvaj (5).<\/em><\/p>\n

Man of the Match: Neymar<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Brazil started with their usual 4-3-3 formation but lacked creativity, as Fernandinho and Casemiro couldn\u2019t manage to help their team in transition. Croatia recognised their opponent’s structure and mirrored Brazil\u2019s formation, pressing high up the pitch and forcing passing errors at the back.<\/p>\n

Miranda missed a few passes early on and saw Andrej Kramaric intercept him and strike from distance, forcing Alisson work.<\/p>\n

After 20\u00a0minutes, Croatia\u2019s pressure loosened up, giving Casemiro the space to find Phillipe Coutinho, making his Anfield return, on the edge of the box. The former Liverpool star got a clear shot but sent it away from goal.<\/p>\n

Croatia\u2019s defence worked very well as Brazil were not able to find their key player in attack. Willian and Coutinho would find space on the wings but were often surrounded by opponents.<\/p>\n

Until the end of the first half, the game was very physical, with both sides committing fouls whenever needed.<\/p>\n

Neymar’s Show<\/h2>\n

Neymar came on for Fernandinho after the break, making his return after going through a surgery exactly three months ago, and changed the game.<\/p>\n

Coutinho moved to a more central position and along with Neymar started to move around, trying to find space on the pitch.<\/p>\n

In the 69th<\/sup> minute, Coutinho found Neymar entering the left side of the box, with the PSG star dribbling past two defenders to score an amazing goal.<\/p>\n

Croatia endured the pressure well after the first goal but ended up conceding a second just before the final whistle. Casemiro received the ball with plenty of space and found Firmino who snuck behind Tin Jedvaj. The defender still tried to tackle the Brazilian forward but missed. The Liverpool<\/a> man calmly waited for the ball to bounce on the pitch and dinked it over the keeper, making it 2-0.<\/p>\n

Match Stats<\/h2>\n