Brazilian/PSG superstar, Neymar Jr., celebrated after saving Brazil in 2 - 2 tie against Colombia. (Image via Yahoo Finance)

Tie to Colombia, Neymar saves the day

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Sports & Culture
Soccer
Sep 07, 2019
2255
On a friendly match held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Brazil had to tie 2-2 with its neighbor, Colombia. However, the world once more saw the return of the Brazilian, Parisian superstar, Neymar Jr.

After his failure to come back to his “home” at Barcelona FC, the 27-year-old Brazilian presented a magnificent performance, saving Brazil’s face. In July ago, the “Canarinha” - a nickname for the Brazilian soccer team – won its 9th Copa America title on the 46th edition of the Copa America.

Starting up, Tite put forth all of his best men to face the “Los Cafetaros”, playing the rising Firmino, Coutinho, and of course, the returning Neymar.

Colombia, on the other hand, also had no holds barred. Carlos Queiroz played his best men as well, such as Luis Muriel, the rising star at Serie A team, Atalanta, scoring two goals in two matches. However, Queiroz did not bring his two stars, Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez due to injury.

Brazilian midfielder playing for Real Madrid, Casemiro, broke the deadlock first at 19th minute in the first half. Starting from a corner kick by Neymar, Casemiro took the fullest advantage from the beautiful corner kick from Neymar and scored a header.

However, the 1 – 0 advantage for Brazil was short-lived. Brazil’s right back, Alex Sandro, accidentally fouled Muriel within the penalty box by his high boot, resulting in a penalty given to Colombia. Muriel did not waste the chance as he managed to hit the ball into the net, tricking Ederson Moraes to the left side while the ball went to the right corner, 1 – 1 for Colombia.

The Brazilians then went to ultra-attacking mode as they put David Ospina to work. However, the table turned against them instead. Muriel then proved his worth once more. Taking advantage of a through ball by Duvan Zapata, Muriel made the Brazilian defense line looked helpless as he kicked the ball hard into the net. Until the end of the first half, Colombia led 2 – 1 against Brazil.

About 13 minutes in the second half, Neymar and co decided it was time to get serious. Tricking the Colombian defense line to play the offside trap, Dani Alves found himself free from the trap. Giving a low cross to Neymar, the superstar hit the ball low catching David Ospina and Davinson Sanchez off guard.

Until the end of the second half, both sides exchanged strikes and chances but the scores stayed level until the end of the additional 90+ minute.

NEYMAR & PSG

Tite finally brought up the elephant in the room. He stated his hope for PSG to give Neymar more time to play on the pitch and for Neymar, to recover his connection with PSG once more.

PSG once agreed to sell Neymar to any team for €200 million. Barcelona was on top of the list to bring its former player back. Neymar himself stated that he did not feel Parc Les Princes his home.

For the last three months, Neymar did not step his foot onto the pitch. Tite, believing in Neymar, brought the ex-Santos still on the squad’s list and playing him against Colombia.

On a short clip shared on Instagram, PSG’s young star, Kylian Mbappe, was seen brushing off Neymar from PSG’s photo, claiming that he did not have the right to be in the photo for his “null” contribution.

During the summer transfer window, Neymar repeatedly stated his will to move back to Camp Nou. However, since PSG did not want to lower his price, then Barcelona decided to withdraw its offer which was devastating for Neymar. Last season, Neymar already missed many games due to injury. It was in Tite’s concern that it would only stain Neymar’s marvelous performance.

“It is not in my power to resolve the issue. But, the only thing I can do is hoping that both (Neymar and PSG) will sort things out,” concluded Tite.

Source: https://www.goal.com/en/match/brazil-v-colombia/report/eitj1y11tz5x9nbxw16dw0oyy

Sports , Friendly , South-America , Brazil , Colombia , Neymar , PSG