Neymar closes on Pele record
Brazil thrash S Korea in int'l friendly
Friday, 3 June 2022
SEOUL, June 02 (AFP): Neymar scored two calmly taken penalties as Brazil fired a World Cup warning with a 5-1 thrashing of South Korea in Seoul on Thursday.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward scored his 72nd and 73rd goals for his country to close on Pele's record of 77 for Brazil.
Neymar also upstaged South Korean captain Son Heung-min, the joint Premier League Golden Boot winner, who was kept quiet by a rampant Brazil at a packed Seoul World Cup Stadium.
Neymar's status for the match had been up in the air after he suffered a right foot injury during training on Wednesday, but he was the star of the show on a night when Richarlison, Philippe Coutinho and Gabriel Jesus all scored.
Brazil, ranked number one in the FIFA rankings, fielded a strong side and looked dangerous almost from the opening seconds with a header by Thiago Silva wiped out by an offside call.
Brazil took advantage of poor South Korean defending to take the lead on seven minutes.