Brazil respond to fans’ anger with an eight-goal thrashing of China

By TALES AZZONI
Published on 12/09/2012 00:32

For Brazil, there’s no better way to appease disgruntled fans than with a flurry of goals. That’s why a thrashing of China was just what the team needed to boost their confidence and bring supporters back on their side.

Brazil beat China 8-0 in a friendly at home on Monday, and players left the field applauded by fans just three days after hearing loud jeers following an unimpressive 1-0 win over South Africa, a result that increased pressure on coach Mano Menezes.

The coach said the boos from fans in Sao Paulo upset players and gave them extra motivation to play harder and get the big win against China in Recife.

“We came into this match with a positive anger,” Menezes said. “You need some of that to become a winning team. We had to transform that into positive energy and we did. We answered by playing good football.”

He added: “We received some fair criticism in the last few days and we knew we could do better. And that’s what we did.”

Menezes and the players acknowledged that China didn’t pose much of a threat and created no significant difficulties for Brazil, but they said the convincing victory helped show fans that they can trust the national team.

“We knew that China wasn’t too strong, but what mattered the most was the way we played, our attitude,” said Neymar, one of the players jeered most in the match against South Africa. “This is how we should always play, taking control of the match from the start.”

Neymar scored a hat-trick on Monday, and there were also goals for Ramires, Lucas, Oscar and Hulk. Chinese defender Liu Jianye scored an own goal.

Daniel Alves, one of the players who criticised the fans’ behaviour in Sao Paulo, said that if Brazil keep playing well they will continue to enjoy the support from the stands.

“The example needs to come from us,” the Barcelona right-back said. “We are the ones playing for the national team right now. We need to answer the critics positively by playing well like we did against China. We are united in our quest. We know it won’t be easy, but if everybody is together, it will be a lot easier.”

Brazil are trying to put a team together ahead of next year’s Confederations Cup and the 2014 World Cup at home.

The victory against China helped reduce the criticism against Menezes ahead of the upcoming matches against South American rivals Argentina. Menezes heard from the fans against South Africa every time he left the bench to instruct his players.

The pressure for his resignation had significantly increased after he failed to lead Brazil to the gold medal at the London Games despite having most of his top players available.

Brazil will play the Superclassic of the Americas, a home-and-away series against Argentina, on 19 September and 3 October, and then will face Japan in a friendly in Poland on 16 October. Only players from local clubs in Argentina and Brazil will be summoned, and Menezes included Luis Fabiano in the list for the first match in Goiania, Brazil. He did not call up Fluminense’s Fred, the Brazilian league’s leading scorer with 11 goals, or Ronaldinho, who has been playing well again for title contenders Atletico Mineiro.

“We need to have a team ready for the Confederations Cup next year and then the World Cup,” Menezes said. “I can’t start making too many changes now.”

Neymar, Lucas and Leandro Damiao were summoned for the matches against Argentina.