LONDON: Striker Neymar scored his 43rd international goal and midfielder Willian set up two as Brazil beat France 3-1 at the Stade de France on Thursday in another step in rebuilding their credibility.

It was France’s first defeat since last year’s World Cup, where they lost to Germany in the quarter-finals while Brazil remain unbeaten since hosting that tournament, where they lost 7-1 to Germany in a semi-final shocker and were humbled 3-0 by the Netherlands in the third-place match.

“I’m trying to give the players confidence after the World Cup, and I’m trying to find a balance,” Brazil coach Dunga said. “We played well and played with speed. We kept our shape well, we were compact. We made some mistakes, but once we got our balance right we were able to win.”

Elsewhere, Ivory Coast began life as African champions with a 2-0 home victory over Angola and Egypt give Argentine coach Hector Cuper a winning start when they beat Equatorial Guinea by the same score-line but top-ranked African team Algeria slipped to a 1-0 loss away to Qatar.

While the African sides are using the international window to prepare for 2017 African Cup qualifiers, which start in June, South American teams are warming up for this year’s Copa America during the break which runs till the end of March.

World Cup quarter-finalists Colombia cruised to a 6-0 rout of Bahrain while Copa America hosts Chile lost 2-0 to Iran in contrasting warm-ups for the June 11-July 4 tournament.

Raphael Varane headed France in front in the 21st minute on a cold night in Paris, only for Oscar to equalise late in the first half with a crisp shot.

Neymar then controlled a Willian pass and lashed the ball high into the roof of the net from the left edge of the six-yard box in the 57th to put the visitors in front, and Luiz Gustavo secured the victory in the 69th when he headed in Willian’s corner.

“We were punished for our mistakes. They are very quick up front,” said France coach Didier Deschamps, who skippered France to their 3-0 World Cup final win against a Brazil side captained by his counterpart Dunga in 1998. “We need to be more accurate, more efficient.”

Ivory Cost celebrated their first game back at home since winning the African Cup of Nations after defender Ousmane Viera scored in the 23rd minute at Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, and Salomon Kalou added the second by earning and converting a 90th-minute penalty.

Egypt scored twice in the final five minutes with goals by Bassin Morsi and Mahmoud Hassan in an empty Petro Sport Stadium in Cairo boosting Cuper as he hopes to revive the seven-time African champions who have failed to qualify for the last three African Cups.

Ali Assed scored for the Qataris in the first half at the Abdullah ben Khalifa Stadium in Doha to leave French coach Christian Gourcuff and his Algerian squad with more disappointment following the quarter-final exit at the African Cup.

Colombia captain Radamel Falcao laid on an opening 14th-minute goal for strike partner Carlos Bacca then scored twice in five minutes, his first a sweet volley, as Colombia hardly broke sweat at Bahrain’s National Stadium in Riffa.

Adrian Ramos and debutants Johan Mojica and Andres Renteria added further goals in the final half hour for the visitors who were without World Cup ace James Rodriguez, who is coming back from a foot injury.

In the Austrian town of Sankt Poelten, Iran ran up a two-goal lead over a second-string Chile side after 50 minutes through midfielders Javad Nekounam and Vahid Amiri and held on for a shock win.

Results:

Bahrain 0Colombia 6 Costa Rica 0Paraguay 0 Egypt 2Equatorial Guinea 0 France 1Brazil 3 Iran 2Chile 0 Jordan 0Syria 1 Ivory Coast 2Angola 0 Maldives 0Tajikistan 2 Oman 6Malaysia 0 Qatar 1Algeria 0 Thailand 2Singapore 0

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2015

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