Neymar's brilliant Brazil comeback thrills Dani Alves
Neymar scored one goal and set up another in his first match since June, much to the delight of Brazil team-mate Dani Alves.
Dani Alves described playing with Neymar as a joyous experience after the Brazil star scored on his long-awaited return to the pitch. The Paris Saint-Germain forward set aside three months of injury issues and transfer speculation as he made his first appearance of the season in the Seleção's 2-2 friendly draw against Colombia in Florida on Friday.
Neymar swings one in for Casemiro
Though relatively quiet in the first half, he delivered the corner from which Casemiro opened the scoring and later preserved his side's unbeaten streak by side-footing home in the 58th minute. Luis Muriel scored a brace in between for Colombia, but Neymar's influential outing grabbed attention in the wake of his failed move back to Barcelona.
"It's always a joy to have Ney doing what he knows best, enjoying himself and doing his best for the national team," the experienced Alves told Globo. "We have affection for him and when he is focused his level is very high. Let's let him do what he can do, which is to play football. We're here to help him."
Colombia get physical
The warmth with which Brazil's players greeted Neymar's return was not shared by Colombia, who fouled the PSG star four times. One notable shove from Davinson Sánchez ended with the 27-year-old Neymar flying into the advertising board.
No friendlies for us
Goalscorer and Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro, recipient of the game's only yellow card for a first-half tackle on striker Muriel, was unimpressed with the opposition's approach. "Guys come to play against Brazil and want to intimidate, putting their hands on us, talking, wanting to hit us," he said. "You have to win on the ball. They have their tactics and we have ours. When it comes to Brazil there are no friendlies. Teams are always strong against us, so we have to play hard. I took the yellow [for the challenge on Muriel] and I apologised."