Brazil's poster-boy striker Neymar fulfilled a nation's expectations to score twice in a 4-1 destruction of Cameroon on Monday while the Netherlands again showed their potential to win the World Cup with a third straight win. The 22-year-old Neymar, his team's box-office attraction and main hope for goals, again rose to the occasion with two precise low shots in the first half either side of Cameroon's goal.
His first, fittingly, was the 100th of a high-scoring tournament in what was Brazil's 100th World Cup game. It also made Neymar top scorer with four so far. In a game where Brazil rediscovered the swagger that won them the Confederations Cup last year, Fred added a third and Fernandinho a fourth in the second half. That gave the hosts top spot in Group A and the reward of facing Chile in Belo Horizonte on Saturday when the exciting knockout rounds start.
"The team has got back that spirit that we used to have," a delighted Fernandinho said. The result sparked delirium in the Brasilia national stadium and around the country, where fireworks flew and parties began. Earlier, the Netherlands continued their outstanding start with a third win, 2-0 against Chile, showing power and pace. The 2010 runners-up have lost three World Cup finals, earning them a reputation as perennial nearly-men, but may have a chance to rectify that in Brazil with one of the strongest-looking sides. They have scored 10 times in the group phase.
Against Chile, who qualified for the last 16 as runners-up in Group B, they left it relatively late. "We played with dignity," said Spanish coach Vicente Del Bosque who is considering his future after the end of the reigning champions' six-year domination of world football. Beyond football matters, Brazilians have been going out of their way to help the estimated 600,000 foreign visitors.
Cab drivers are using smartphones to understand foreign languages, street vendors are grilling meat on their doorsteps to satisfy spectators left hungry by long queues at stadiums, and some locals are ferrying fans by bike to beat the traffic jams. With political protests only sporadic, and anxiety over infrastructure subsiding, the tournament has come alive in the way fans around the world expected it would in a football-mad nation also famous for its beaches, samba and caipirinhas.
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