EAST RUTHERFORD (New Jersey): Brazil beat Ecuador 1-0 in an international friendly on Tuesday night in a friendly at MetLife Stadium with a first half goal from Willian enough to give coach Dunga his second successive victory.

Willian, one of seven players from Brazil’s World Cup roster who made the trip to the United States, scored off a feed from Neymar in the 31st minute.

The win came four days after Brazil beat Colombia and the win over a spritely Ecuador side delighted the new manager.

“There weren’t any negative points,” he told reporters. “You have to take positives from the negatives. You learn, you evolve. So for me it was all positive.

“The players played well against two very good teams. The team raised its ability depending on how difficult the situations were. All the players on this team I felt made the most of their opportunities in these games.”

Dunga fielded five survivors from Germany’s 7-1 World Cup semi-final humbling of Brazil as he seeks to overhaul the squad in time for the 2018 finals in Russia.

But they almost had to settle for a draw as Ecuador came close when Enner Valencia saw a shot strike the post after beating goalkeeper Jefferson.

Neymar meanwhile showed his mortality by missing from point blank range. He blamed the “horrible” pitch afterwards.

Brazil’s next match will be against Argentina in Beijing on Oct. 11. Dunga’s first competitive fixtures will come in next year’s Copa America in Chile.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2014