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6 years ago

Neymar stars as Brazil beat Austria in World Cup warm-up

Brazil's Neymar celebrates scoring their second goal - Reuters photo
Brazil's Neymar celebrates scoring their second goal - Reuters photo

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Gabriel Jesus, Neymar, and Philippe Coutinho scored as Brazil swept aside Austria 3-0 in their final World Cup warm-up game in Vienna on Sunday.

Manchester City striker Jesus calmly curled past Heinz Lindner to open the scoring on 35 minutes.

Neymar, making his first start since February, doubled the lead midway through the second half, slotting in after a nice piece of skill.

Barcelona midfielder Coutinho added the third goal shortly afterwards.

He latched onto a through ball from former Liverpool team-mate Roberto Firmino before sliding home.

It could have been worse for Austria, Coutinho rattling the bar with a delicate effort after 76 minutes, and Firmino denied by a fine save in the closing moments.

Austria, who failed to qualify for Russia and have not competed at a World Cup since 1998, failed to pose much of a threat, though West Ham forward Marko Arnautovic did go close in the first half.

Brazil have not lost since June 2017, a run of 10 games, and have kept 16 clean sheets in 21 games since Tite took over in June 2016.

The five-time world champions, drawn in Group E, begin their World Cup campaign against Switzerland on Sunday, 17 June before facing Costa Rica and Serbia.

 

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