LONDON, July 29, (Agencies): Neymar showed just why the world’s top football clubs want to sign him with a virtuoso display as Brazil came from a goal behind to beat Belarus 3-1 at a packed Old Trafford on Sunday.
Spanish giants Barcelona are the latest leading club to have expressed an interest in the 20-year-old and it was easy to see why as Brazil qualified for the quarter-finals of the Olympic tournament with a match to spare.
Belarus took a shock lead in front of a crowd of more than 66,000 at the home ground of English giants Manchester United.
But from then on Brazil battled back in this Group C clash, with Neymar setting the seal on a superb display with a 65th minute free-kick bent over the wall and beyond the reach of diving Belarus keeper Aleksandr Gutor.
Brazil, five-times the world champions, but still seeking a first Olympic gold medal, were 1-0 down when Belarus’s Renan Bardini Bressan opened the scoring with an eighth minute header.
However, Neymar then took centre stage, crossing for AC Milan star Pato to equalise, before he put Brazil in front and also setting up Oscar for the clinching third goal.
“I scored a great goal from a free-kick then gave both passes for the rest of the goals, so that makes me very happy,” said Neymar.
Earlier at Old Trafford, Egypt’s last-eight hopes suffered a setback when they were held to a 1-1 draw by New Zealand.
The All Whites took the lead through a 16th minute strike from Chris Wood, who plays his club football for English Premier League West Bromwich Albion.
Mohamed Salah equalised from close range shortly before the break and the Africans could have had several more goals by the final whistle but instead squandered a host of chances.
Now Egypt must beat Belarus on Wednesday to get to the quarter-finals while New Zealand will have to cause one of the great upsets by defeating Brazil if they are to go any further in this tournament than the group stage.
Meanwhile 10-man Senegal opened up Group A with a shock 2-0 win over well-regarded Uruguay.
Teenager Moussa Konate scored twice, either side of Abdoulaye Ba’s first-half dismissal for a foul on Luis Suarez.
Liverpool striker Suarez, fast becoming the man fans of other England clubs love to hate after he was suspended for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra last season, was the target of fresh jeers at Wembley.
“No matter what the crowd does it is not a problem,” said Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez.
“We know it is going to happen but Luis is a member of our team.”
Japan qualified for the quarter-finals with a 1-0 Group D win over Morocco secured by Kensuke Nagai’s goal six minutes from time at Newcastle’s St James’ Park in north-east England.
“I’m really happy to be able to move into the knockout stage, but I’m not thinking about that yet,” said Japan coach Takashi Sekizuka.
Asian rivals South Korea also enjoyed victory, with a 2-1 win over Switzerland at the City of Coventry Stadium drawing them level with Group B leaders Mexico.
Arsenal’s Park Chu-Young put South Korea in front only for Switzerland’s Innocent Emeghara to equalise moments later.
But Kim Bo-Kyung, who recently signed for English second-tier side Cardiff, volleyed home a deflected cross to settle the match in thew second half. Earlier in Coventry, Tottenham Hotspur’s Giovani dos Santos scored both goals in Mexico’s 2-0 Group B win over Gabon.
Giovani broke the deadlock in the 63rd minute after coming on as a second-half substitute and then scored from the penalty spot in injury-time.
This was Mexico’s first win of the tournament and it kept their quarter-final hopes alive.
Spain crashed out of the Olympic football tournament on Sunday after the world and European champions suffered a shock 1-0 loss to Honduras at Newcastle’s St James’ Park.
Jerry Bengtson’s seventh-minute header was all that separated the sides in a stunning victory for the Central Americans that meant Spain could not qualify out of Group D following their opening defeat by Japan.
In a fractious match featuring 12 bookings, Spain’s Iker Muniain hit the post and Rodrigo the bar, before a host of Spanish players converged upon referee Juan Soto Arevalo after the Venezuelan official denied them a penalty late on.
Bengtson scored when he rose high to power in Roger Espinoza’s driven cross past Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea.
Ryan Giggs got his goal and Britain got a 3-1 win over the United Arab Emirates to keep its Olympic title dreams going. With Prince William and David Beckham watching on, too.
The 38-year-old Giggs capped a nifty buildup with a 16th minute opener to become the oldest goalscorer at the games, which is also the Welshman’s first major tournament.
Rashed Eisa nearly spoiled the party for 82,239 fans at Wembley Stadium with an equalizer on the hour mark. But Giggs replacement Scott Sinclair scored in the 73rd before Daniel Sturridge’s perfect lob capped what turned out to be an emphatic win.
As Beckham and British royalty watched, the hosts joined Senegal atop Group A with four points to eliminate the UAE. Uruguay has three points after losing to the Africans 2-0 at Wembley earlier on Sunday.
Giggs lifted the hosts into the lead after a smart set-up that ultimately finished with the Manchester United winger heading Craig Bellamy’s cross into the area down off the ground and beyond the reach of goalkeeper Ali Khaseif, who was superb until Britain broke out in the second half.
Giggs, whose native Wales has never managed to reach a major tournament during his playing days, surpassed the 88-year-old record held by Egypt’s Hussein Hegazi, who was 37 at the time, as the oldest scorer in the competition’s history.
The Welshman’s feat was nearly soured by the passive second half start by the hosts, as Eisa received alone in the middle before bursting forward to go clear on helpless goalkeeper Jack Butland.
Butland kept Britain even with clutch stops on Ahmed Khalil before Giggs came off for Sinclair two minutes before the Swansea City midfielder poked into the empty goal after Khaseif spilled Bellamy’s swerving cross onto his foot.
Sturridge, who replaced Marvin Sordell after the break, held off two defenders to reach Tom Cleverley’s through ball and flick over Khaseif from outside the area after the UAE ‘keeper came off his line with thoughts of challenging the Chelsea striker.
Britain’s medal hopes are far from finished, however, with a tough match against Uruguay in Cardiff on Wednesday. Anything but defeat in a matchup between fellow two-time Olympic champions will see Britain progress to the last eight.