Neymar Becomes 2nd Youngest Player to Reach 40-Goal Mark for Brazil

10/15/2014 - 08h47

Neymar woke up with a cold on Tuesday (14), feeling weak and unwell.

But once he pulled on the Brazil shirt and took to the field to face Japan, in Singapore, he showed no signs of illness at all.

He scored all four goals in a 4-0 thrashing, and in doing so became the seleçao's fifth highest scorer in history.

He now sits on 40 goals, overtaking Bebeto on 39. He is behind four of the most important players in the history of Brazilian football: Pelé, Ronaldo, Romário and Zico.

Aged just 22 years and eight months, he is the second youngest to ever reach this milestone, behind only Pelé, who achieved the feat two months younger than Neymar in 1963.

The Barcelona forward admitted to having an off day on Saturday (11), having missed two golden chances during Brazil's 2-0 victory over Argentina.

He more than made up for it against Japan, however, overcoming not only his cold, but also the poor playing surface at Singapore's National Stadium.

The last player to score four times for Brazil in a single game was Romário, in a 6-0 rout of Venezuela back in 2000.

"It's an honor to be up there with some of Brazil's biggest names," said Neymar, who took the match ball back to Barcelona with him as a souvenir.

Neymar didn't even make the best start to the match. His passes went astray, his tricks weren't coming off.

Again, it looked like it wasn't to be his day. Nonetheless, the crowd cheered his every touch, and in the end, the 52,000 spectators were well rewarded.

After 17 minutes, a through ball from Diego Tardelli played Neymar in behind the Japanese defense. The forward rounded the keeper to open the scoring. Lights went up on the stadium's roof, reading "GOAL", while loud music added to the party atmosphere.

Even during half time, Neymar was center stage, featuring in an ad for a Japanese mattress on the big screen. Dunga made three changes, bringing on Mário Fernandes, Everton Ribeiro and Philippe Coutinho for Danilo, Willian and Oscar.

Brazil improved, and Neymar scored again on 47 minutes, in a virtual replica of the first goal, with the assist coming this time from Philippe Coutinho. The veteran Kaká - back in the squad after falling out of favor under Luiz Felipe Scolari - was involved in the other two goals.

DUNGA 100%

It was the fourth victory in four games since Dunga took over, following Brazil's 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Germany in the World Cup semifinals. They have also yet to concede a goal since then.

Dunga says he is trying to create a system in which Neymar can have freedom to flourish.

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

Read the article in the original language