Soccer: Brazilian trio blaze trail for next golden generation

Neymar scored both Brazil's goals as they cruised to a win over Scotland in their soccer friendly in London. Photo / AP

Brazil coach Mano Menezes of NeymarA new generation of canary-shirted magicians was introduced to British audiences in London yesterday and they did not disappoint.

A pair of teenage tyros, Neymar and Lucas, confirmed there is no downturn in the production line of talent which has so far delivered five World Cups and is expected to win a sixth on home soil in 2014.

Scotland were reduced to the status of the supporting cast as Brazil cruised to a 2-0 victory. Both goals came from the 19-year-old Neymar, a kid from Pele's old club Santos with a daft haircut, knee-length socks, a sublime touch on the ball and unerring eye for goal.

He was named player of the tournament in the recent South American Under-20 finals, in which he scored nine goals, and was the subject of a rejected £20 million ($42.64 million) bid by Chelsea even before he made his international debut in September.

Santos have since put a £45 million price on him, and sold 5 per cent of any future fee for £3 million to an investment company, but the only uncertainty about his future is which club he will join in Europe, and when.

For Mano Menezes, the Brazil coach, it cannot happen soon enough.

Asked, with reference to Chelsea's interest, if a move to the Premier League would be good for the player, Menezes said: "Yes. It would make him the complete player. His style would not disappear through playing in England but it would give him a stronger physical sense, making him more able to escape strong marking."

Neymar spoke afterwards of an "atmosphere of racism", but that was not obviously apparent. His habit of going to ground easily - under some admittedly heavy tackling, and one crude off-the-ball shoulder barge from Scott Brown - did provoke anger which he may have misinterpreted.

That was the view of a spokesman for the Tartan Army, Hamish Husband, who condemned any racism.

Lucas, making his debut with an 18-minute cameo, looked even better than Neymar. He drove at a tired defence with a balance and physique reminiscent of Diego Maradona. He also knew when to release the ball, rare in a player so young.

Leandro Damiao was another home-based debutant who impressed. While less polished than the others, the striker hit the bar with a powerful header and was a handful leading the line. All of which made one fear for future opponents when Menezes said, "they will evolve and become more confident as individuals as they play more games".

The trio, and others from this team, will be back in England next year for London 2012, which is as good a reason to buy tickets for the Olympic football tournament as any.

Menezes needed this performance. He arrived in London on the back of defeats to Argentina and France and another failure would have added to the sense that he is only keeping the dugout warm for Luiz Felipe Scolari, who led the Selecao to victory in 2002 and is now back in Brazil after lucrative sojourns in Portugal, west London and Kazakhstan.

On the eve of the match Menezes was asked if he "was worried about my job". He noted: "In Brazil we are used to winning, maybe you cannot win every game when you are changing a team, but we always think we should."

There was never any chance of a first defeat to Scotland. Craig Levein's side were dogged and well-organised but given their attacking threat was negligible it was always going to be just a matter of time before their defence were stretched too far.

- INDEPENDENT