By Ryan Deeney - Posted: 09/07/13 07:13PM EDT
Paulinho beats Bresciano to the ball in a typical feature of the night's game - Brazil beating Australia.
This was embarrassing.
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In front of a half full crowd, Australia made their trip to Brazil look more like a holiday break than a test ahead of the World Cup.
After all the noise and excitement during the Confederations Cup, there was a subdued atmosphere in Brazil as Neymar and co took apart Australia for fun.
Jo scored to finish off two well worked moves before Neymar made it three.Ramires, Alexandre Pato and Luis Gustavo also added goals in the second half to complete a mauling.
There little impression made by the Oceanian's. Tim Cahill may have been missing but the likes of Josh Kennedy, Tommy Oar and Brett Holman failed to produce any noteworthy moments as the holes in the pitch were exploited with extreme ease by a Brazil side that looks full of confidence having humiliated a tired Spain outfit in the final of that Confederations Cup tournament.
Despite missing Dani Alves, Oscar, Hulk, Fred and Sandro, Brazil were able to call upon the likes of Neymar, David Luiz, Thiago Silva, Marcelo and others. Ramires made a comeback into the Brazil side while Maicon was strangely brought back in as Scolari looks for an understudy to Alves. There was also the class of Pato, Moura, Hernanes and Dante on the bench.
As for Australia, they had Premier League players in Mark Schwarzer (Chelsea) and Jedinak (Crystal Palace) while former Blackburn Rovers, West Ham United and Everton defender Lucas Neill led out the away nation.
It was clear to see the confidence of the home nation as they stood tall during their national anthem, all singing loud and proud to their independence anthem.It didn't take long for them to put that pride into performance either.
A very laid back Australia side fell one behind early on when Neymar's trickery down the left and eventual cross to the back post found Bernard. The 5"5 winger's stretching effort hit the inside of the far post but fell luckily into the path of Jo who scored his first of two goals on the night, tapping into an empty net. Just nine minutes in and Australia were already behind.
David Luiz then missed a chance to head home from a free-kick but fluffed his lines before Neymar showed his incredible talents by cutting inside and taking the ball past four players before chipping over the bar on the stretch.
Neymar was then denied again by a Schwarzer save but it wasn't long after until they got the second. Paulinho put in a fantastic challenge which set Bernard away down the right. His cross was powerful and found former Manchester City and Everton striker Jo six yards out. He stretched out his long legs to smash the ball past Schwarzer on the volley. 2-0.
Just two minutes later, Neymar got his goal. Australia lost possession cheaply in midfield once again and their high line was punished with the simplest of goals as Neymar raced through with ease and poked a right foot effort into the far corner past Schwarzer. The 41 year old wasn't enjoying his night, Neymar was enjoying his.
A straightforward night for Brazil saw only one down side as Marcelo went off injured with a hamstring problem. Maxwell took his place at half-time with the score 3-0 at the referee's whistle.
The second half started exactly the same. Thiago Silva saw his goal chalked off rather harshly after the referee decided he had pushed Ryan McGowan. Neymar was then a victim of his own ego as he tried to run past the ball and flick it on the outside of his foot rather than stop and volley it virtually unchallenged on the far post.
Just before the hour mark, it was 4. Bernard, Jo and Paulinho were all involved in the move with the latter playing Maxwell in behind a defence that was as open as the Grand Canyon. His cross found Ramires running into the back post and his bullet header flew past his Chelsea team-mate Schwarzer.
Australia tried to strange any sort of hope of even a consolation by bringing on Archie Thompson, most famous for scoring 13 goals in a 31-0 win over American Samoa in qualifying a few years back. He couldn't do nothing though as the first move following his introduction saw Bernard get onto the end of another fine move but shoot weakly before Ramires hammered a left-footed effort off the outside of the post.
A few substitutions slowed the game down and after Maicon hit a shot that went out for a throw-in, Brazil made it 5. Neymar was once again involved as he played into Lazio midfielder Hernanes. His delicate chip over the top found Neymar who pulled the ball back on to the six yard box for substitute Alexandre Pato to tap home a fifth.
The 6th came on 83 minutes when Luis Gustavo played a one-two with the irrepressible Neymar before taking two touches away from the defenders and unleashing a powerful shot that left the typically helpless Mark Schwarzer sitting there afterwards wondering what on Earth had happened to the 10 men in front of him.
And with that, the game was done.
Australia came into this game ready for a big test, something to look forward and a game they couldn't wait to get stuck into with the Confederations Cup Champions according to their pre-match talk ended with them being humiliated not just by a ruthless Brazilian side but also a lethargic performance. The image of manager Holger Osieck standing with his hand over his face before looking up embarrassed at his team in the first-half said everything about the game he was witnessing.
As for Brazil, they go on strong for now. Despite a surprising defeat to Switzerland recently, they came back with a vengeance. With the likes of Hulk and Alves to come back as well as Oscar, Fred and Sandro likely to return from injury there are plenty of options for Scolari to choose from. Just maybe, Ronaldinho and Kaka can force their way back into the national side with strong performances for their respective clubs too.
It all looks good for Brazil currently. They'll be contenders in their own World Cup. That's for sure.