Brazil line-up: Julio Cesar, Alves, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Marcelo, Oscar, Dias, Paulinho, Fred (Jo, 81'), Neymar (Lucas, 74'), Hulk (Hernanes, 75')
Japan line-up: Kawashima, Nagatomo, Uchida, Konno, Yoshida, Honda (Taka Inui, 88'), Endo (Hasogai, 77'), Hiroshi Kiyotake (Maeda, 51'), Kagawa, Hasebe, Okazaki
The World Cup hosts begin the prelude with a comfortable victory against the first team to book their place alongside Brazil in next year's games. It was a slow start to this year's Confederations Cup but the score is definitely one Luiz Felipe Scolari will cherish as it is only his third win in charge of Brazil for the second time.
The footballing world was treated to a fantastic beginning as Brazil were ahead after just three minutes. Marcelo launched a cross field pass which found Fred on the edge of the box. Fred chested the ball down for the new Barcelona striker, Neymar, to spectacularly half volley the ball in to the top corner from the edge of the d and send the partisan crown in to Samba mode.
The rest of the first half seemed to be a little lethargic and 'end of season' as Brazil seemed comfortable enough in possession and Japan couldn't really challenge the South American defence. Julio Cesar was called in to action twice when Keisuke Honda fired a couple of long range efforts that the current QPR goalkeeper slightly fumbled but managed to parry away nonetheless. Hulk thought he had made it 2-0 towards the end of the half but his shot only found the side netting. The closest Brazil did come to doubling their lead before half-time was when Paulinho broke through but his shot across goal was smartly saved by Eiji Kawashima.
Just like it took three minutes for Brazil to score in the first half, it also took them three minutes to score in the second half. Dani Alves' cross was controlled by Paulinho before he smashed an effort underneath Kawashima. The power may have been the reason why the goalkeeper didn't save it, but it really looked like he could have done nonetheless.
It took the second goal for Japan to finally spring some rapid attacks and a few decent chances, although Julio Cesar still wasn't worked too hard. The only save he did make in the second half came from a good shot by substitute Ryoichi Maeda but again it was parried away.
The game ended with a blast from the past. The former Manchester City striker, Jo, came on for Fred with nine minutes remaining. The striker, now at Atletico Mineiro, was only called up to the squad after an injury to Leandro Daimao and hasn't played for the nation since the Beijing Olympics. But it was he who added their third with the last kick of the game. The goal was all down to Chelsea's Oscar to ran from inside his own half before threading a fantastic ball for Jo to slot home under the keeper.
With Mexico and Italy still to come for the hosts, Brazil will arguably face tougher tests in this tournament but it;s certainly a solid enough start. Japan did look lively at times but just couldn't find a way to breach Brazil's goal. Honda was their most exciting player which can only be a good thing as he is looking for a new club this summer after deciding to leave CSKA Moscow.
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