BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil (AP) – Just the prospect of Lionel Messi’s return gave Argentina so much confidence that one player openly said it would intimidate the Brazilians ahead of their South American World Cup qualifying match.
Having the five-time player of the year back from injury didn’t translate into success, though, as Messi’s friend Neymar led Brazil to a convincing 3-0 victory at the Mineirao stadium on Thursday.
Neymar showed class in the lead up to Philippe Coutinho’s opening goal from the edge of the box. Then the Barcelona star scored his 50th goal for Brazil at the end of the first half with an elegant touch in front of the Argentine goalkeeper. Neymar also hit the post, lobbed midfielder Lucas Biglia, easily worked his way through the opposition defense and was fouled nine times as he pushed Brazil forward.
“Look at this guy. If Neymar had played here in that game against Germany in the 2014 World Cup, we wouldn’t have lost 7-1,” said Eric Angelo, a Brazilian fan who watched Thursday’s match and was also at his team’s humiliating defeat here two years ago. “We would have more confidence and maybe given the Germans a challenge.” Neymar was injured when Brazil experienced their worst defeat ever.
Messi began with a lot of style at Mineirao stadium and caused trouble for his marker, Fernandinho. In only five minutes the Manchester City midfielder was lobbied by Messi and picked a yellow card after a hard foul on the Argentine forward. But as Paulinho and Renato Augusto helped out with defending against the Argentine playmaker, the only opportunities Messi had were from free kicks near the penalty box.