Hulk celebrate Brazil return in style

AFP, HARRISON (NJ): Hulk celebrated his return to the Brazil side with a 10th-minute strike to give Dunga’s men a 1-0 victory over Costa Rica on Saturday in a New Jersey friendly. In his first appearance in a Brazil squad since the World Cup debacle last year, the forward stated his case to start in their first 2018 World Cup qualifying game next month against Chile in Santiago.
He leapt on a loose ball in the box, eluding a defender and firing home for the only goal of the game at Red Bull Arena. Despite a dearth of chances for Costa Rica — playing under coach Oscar Ramirez for the first time — Brazil were unable to build on the lead, with chances for Marcelo and Douglas Costa going begging after the break.
Neymar, with the squad for two North American friendlies even though he is suspended for the first two World Cup qualifiers because of his Copa America red card, came off the bench 10 minutes from time. But Dunga’s team were unable to find a second goal. “It’s normal after a long time off,” Brazilian manager Carlos Dunga said through a translator. “You can’t have a perfect game. Lot of things we practiced in training came out well and we can do them even better. I liked how this team performed.
“We created a lot of chances. We would have liked to score more goals, but a lot of times in soccer, one is enough. It’s still three points.” “It was good. All the players that started did well. Rafinha did well. Kaka did well. Danilo. But we can get better. It’s normal after four days of training they don’t do everything right. Overall it was a good performance.
“We have to think of qualifying. We have to give opportunities to the other players and look for other aspects of the training. We have to prepare for the next games of qualifying in the future.” Still, Costa Rica manager Oscar Ramirez seemed content. “We still need confidence, but it’s places we can work on for (qualifying),” he said through a translator. I’m very happy. It’s a good group. One of our main objectives is to have the personality to make such a good team (like Brazil) suffer and take them places that were good for us.

 

Hulk celebrate Brazil return in style

AFP, HARRISON (NJ): Hulk celebrated his return to the Brazil side with a 10th-minute strike to give Dungas men a 1-0 victory over Costa Rica on Saturday in a New Jersey friendly. In his first appearance in a Brazil squad since the World Cup debacle last year, the forward stated his case to start in their first 2018 World Cup qualifying game next month against Chile in Santiago. He leapt on a loose ball in the box, eluding a defender and firing home for the only goal of the game at Red Bull Arena. Despite a dearth of chances for Costa Rica playing under coach Oscar Ramirez for the first time Brazil were unable to build on the lead, with chances for Marcelo and Douglas Costa going begging after the break. Neymar, with the squad for two North American friendlies even though he is suspended for the first two World Cup qualifiers because of his Copa America red card, came off the bench 10 minutes from time. But Dungas team were unable to find a second goal. Its normal after a long time off, Brazilian manager Carlos Dunga said through a translator. You cant have a perfect game. Lot of things we practiced in training came out well and we can do them even better. I liked how this team performed. We created a lot of chances. We would have liked to score more goals, but a lot of times in soccer, one is enough. Its still three points. It was good. All the players that started did well. Rafinha did well. Kaka did well. Danilo. But we can get better. Its normal after four days of training they dont do everything right. Overall it was a good performance. We have to think of qualifying. We have to give opportunities to the other players and look for other aspects of the training. We have to prepare for the next games of qualifying in the future. Still, Costa Rica manager Oscar Ramirez seemed content. We still need confidence, but its places we can work on for (qualifying), he said through a translator. Im very happy. Its a good group. One of our main objectives is to have the personality to make such a good team (like Brazil) suffer and take them places that were good for us.