Brazil made it 10 straight wins before heading to Chile for the Copa America, which begins on Thursday and could become a showdown between Barcelona superstars Lionel Messi and Neymar. Neymar came on as a second-half substitute in Brazil's 1-0 home friendly win over Honduras on Wednesday night in their final game before the Copa, which starts when hosts Chile face Ecuador in Santiago at 2330 GMT.
Roberto Firmino scored the only goal in a lacklustre friendly that did little to impress home fans who are still struggling to get over Brazil's 7-1 defeat to Germany in the World Cup semi-finals on home soil last year. But coach Dunga sought to reassure fans. "When it comes down to it, it was the last warm-up for the Copa so really it is understandable the players took their foot off the accelerator a little bit," said Dunga, who won the World Cup in 1994 as a player and coached Brazil to Copa success in 2007.
Neymar and Messi, who captains Argentina, are just two of the Europe-based stars on show in Chile, including Colombia's James Rodriguez, Chile's Alexis Sanchez and Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani. Messi and Neymar arrive at the tournament less than a week after inspiring Barcelona to the Champions League, the final act of a glittering treble-winning season. Both players are carrying a mountain of expectation on their shoulders, with Messi determined to finally taste glory at a major international tournament and Neymar aiming to erase the memory of Brazil's World Cup debacle. "I feel I'm in better shape arriving at this tournament than I was at the World Cup last year," Messi told reporters at Argentina's training camp.
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