Brazil beat Croatia 2-0 By Neymar returns in scoring style

Neymar scored a brilliant goal on his return from injury as Brazil began their World Cup preparations with a win over Croatia at Anfield.

The Paris St-Germain star, 26, smashed a shot in off the bar after a slick move involving Chelsea's Willian and Barcelona's Philippe Coutinho.Croatia's high tempo created first-half chances for Dejan Lovren and Andrej Kramaric. But Liverpool's Roberto Firmino scored in added time to seal the victory.

Brazil, who became the first team to qualify for the World Cup in March, face Austria next Sunday before starting their Group E campaign against Switzerland on 17 June. The return of their talisman Neymar, who joined PSG from Barcelona for £200m last August, is well-timed after he missed more than three months since injuring his ankle in February.

He also missed the end of Brazil's last World Cup campaign in 2014 after breaking a bone in his back during the 2-1 quarter-final win over Colombia. Without him Brazil were thrashed 7-1 by Germany in the semi-final.

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Neymar scored on his return to action after three months out through injury as Brazil warmed up for the World Cup with a 2-0 friendly win over Croatia at Anfield on Sunday.

The most expensive player in the world has been sidelined since Feb. 25, when he fractured a metatarsal and sprained his ankle playing for Paris St Germain in a French league match against Olympique de Marseille.

The former Barcelona forward, key to his country’s hopes in Russia, came on as a halftime substitute and provided the moment of inspiration for win the game in the 69th minute.

Willian, impressive throughout for Brazil, picked the ball up in midfield and threaded the ball to Philippe Coutinho who found Neymar in the inside-left channel. The 26-year-old cut inside and skipped past two defenders before blasting the ball home off the underside of the crossbar.

Neymar’s goal was his 54th for his country and he needs one to reach Romario as the third most prolific Brazil striker of all time behind Pele and Ronaldo.

Another substitute, Roberto Firmino, delighted the Liverpool fans in the Anfield crowd by adding the second in stoppage-time with a well-taken lob from inside the area.

Croatia’s hard pressing had frustrated Brazil in the first 45 minutes and they needed keeper Alisson to get down well to keep out a drive from Andrej Kramaric after Miranda gave the ball away.

But after the break, the Croatians began to defend deeper and allowed Brazil the space to begin to express themselves - a situation Neymar exploited to the full.

Brazil coach Tite had started with Coutinho on the left and Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus at center-forward with Willian on the right flank.

Coutinho switched to a more orthodox midfield role after the introduction of Neymar, on the left, at the break and Firmino played the last half hour in the middle after replacing Jesus.

Brazil’s opening game in World Cup Group E is against Switzerland and they also face Costa Rica and Serbia in the first round.

The five-times world champions have one more friendly before the tournament, against Austria in Vienna on Jun 10.

MATCH STATS

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