Neymar and his teammates have danced their way into the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals.
The 30-year-old Brazilian professional footballer scored a goal as Brazil beat South Korea 4-1 on Monday in a dazzling performance at Qatar 2022.
Neymar, on his return from injury, made no mistake, nonchalantly strolling up and placing the ball to the goalkeeper’s left.
The goal was Neymar’s 76th for the national team, just one strike away from equaling Pelé as Brazil’s all-time top goalscorer. By scoring Neymar also became just the third Brazilian player in history after Pelé and Ronaldo to score at three different World Cups.
The team’s win was a real statement of intent from Brazil, as Tite’s side showed why it was considered the favorite to lift the trophy coming into the tournament.
Four first-half goals from Vinicius Jr., Neymar Jr., Richarlison and Lucas Paqueta ended this match as a contest soon after it had begun, with a combination of shambolic Korean defending and brilliant Brazilian attacking play leading to the most one-sided game of this World Cup so far.
However porous the Korean defense was, the opening 45 minutes were truly a football spectacle and encapsulated everything that has made Brazil both feared and admired at the World Cup over the years.
That included some perfectly-timed choreographed dancing as Brazil celebrated each of its four goals in style, even convincing head coach Tite to join in with Richarlison’s ‘pigeon dance’ for the third goal.
The second half was little more than a procession for Brazil, as its players took their foot off the gas and began conserving their energy for the much sterner test against Croatia that lies ahead on Friday.
Seung-Ho Paik grabbed a consolation goal for Korea 15 minutes from time as his long-range strike took a deflection off Thiago Silva that helped it past Alisson into the far corner.
With the recent news that soccer great Pelé had been admitted to hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s players celebrated the win at full time with a banner paying tribute to the three-time World Cup winner.
