Friday, April 25, 2025
10:27 AM
Doha,Qatar
RELATED STORIES

Neymar saves Brazil, while Colombia upset at Copa

Brazil’s midfielder Douglas Costa (right) celebrates with teammate Neymar after scoring against Peru during their 2015 Copa America match in Temuco, Chile.

AFP/Temuco, Chile
c
Neymar headed in a fifth-minute equaliser before creating a goal for teammate Douglas Costa deep into stoppage time to seal Brazil’s 11th consecutive victory since last year’s World Cup.
“This is a very tough competition,” Neymar said afterwards as he collected a man-of-the-match award. “We got the win and that’s important.”
Neymar has now reached 44 international goals at the age of 23, a year earlier than Brazilian legend Pele.
“I want to keep on reaching records, with goals, assists and everything that can help the team to win,” Neymar said.
The Brazilian star was at the centre of the action throughout the game, even getting a bizarre yellow card for pushing aside the foam the referee had sprayed on the pitch to show where a free kick should be taken.
Brazil coach Dunga praised the contribution of his captain.
“Neymar was again decisive,” Dunga said afterwards. “He’s played three finals in Spain (with Barcelona), and he’s had a long season. But he comes here and takes responsibility for sorting out our problems.”
Peru, who took the lead after only three minutes when Christian Cueva punished a defensive blunder by David Luiz, looked to have done enough to secure a share of the Group C points.

LAST GASP  
But with the final whistle looming, Neymar advanced menacingly down the left flank and threaded a pass through a forest of bodies for unmarked Shakhtar Donetsk striker Douglas Costa.
Douglas, who had earlier squandered a golden chance created by Neymar, made no mistake with his second opportunity, calmly placing his shot beyond the despairing dive of Pedro Gallese.
While Brazil can now start planning for the knockout rounds, Group C rivals Colombia must regroup after their upset defeat to Venezuela.
A second-half goal from Russian-based striker Salomon Rondon settled a hard-fought encounter in Rancagua as the highly-rated Colombians struggled to break down the Venezuelans.
Despite a starting line-up packed with star names from Europe’s strongest leagues, including James Rodriguez from Real Madrid, Manchester United’s Radamel Falcao and Chelsea’s Juan Cuadrado, Colombia were never able to impose their attacking style on the contest.
Venezuela’s goal came after a quick throw caught Colombia’s defence off guard.
Juan Arango improvised a first-time cross across the box to Alejandro Guerra, who headed back into the path of Rondon.
The Zenit St. Petersburg striker, reportedly a summer transfer target for English clubs Tottenham and Liverpool, guided a superb header over Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina before being mobbed by his team-mates.
Colombia rallied furiously in search of an equaliser but could find no way past Venezuelan goalkeeper Alain Baroja.
“We knew they were going to play hard,” said Colombia goalkeeper Ospina, who offered no excuses.  
“Venezuela closed down the space well. We did not get the room for our individual skills. In the end we lost the game, but there are still two more left to turn this around.”
“Now we have to recover and start thinking about Brazil,” Ospina added.
Wednesday’s game against Brazil promises to be one of the ties of the first round, a rematch of the bruising quarter-final at last year’s World Cup, won 2-1 by the hosts.

Comments
  • There are no comments.

Add Comments

B1Details

Latest News

SPORT

Canada's youngsters set stage for new era

Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when you are saying farewell to those that have left a positive impression. That was the case earlier this month when Canada hosted Mexico in a friendly at BC Place stadium in Vancouver.

1:43 PM February 26 2017
TECHNOLOGY

A payment plan for universal education

Some 60mn primary-school-age children have no access to formal education

11:46 AM December 14 2016
CULTURE

10-man Lekhwiya leave it late to draw Rayyan 2-2

Lekhwiya’s El Arabi scores the equaliser after Tresor is sent off; Tabata, al-Harazi score for QSL champions

7:10 AM November 26 2016
ARABIA

Yemeni minister hopes 48-hour truce will be maintained

The Yemeni Minister of Tourism, Dr Mohamed Abdul Majid Qubati, yesterday expressed hope that the 48-hour ceasefire in Yemen declared by the Command of Coalition Forces on Saturday will be maintained in order to lift the siege imposed on Taz City and ease the entry of humanitarian aid to the besieged

10:30 AM November 27 2016
ARABIA

QM initiative aims to educate society on arts and heritage

Some 200 teachers from schools across the country attended Qatar Museum’s (QM) first ever Teachers Council at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) yesterday.

10:55 PM November 27 2016
ARABIA

Qatar, Indonesia to boost judicial ties

The Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) of Qatar and the Indonesian Supreme Court (SCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on judicial co-operation, it was announced yesterday.

10:30 AM November 28 2016
ECONOMY

Sri Lanka eyes Qatar LNG to fuel power plants in ‘clean energy shift’

Sri Lanka is keen on importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar as part of government policy to shift to clean energy, Minister of City Planning and Water Supply Rauff Hakeem has said.

10:25 AM November 12 2016
B2Details
C7Details