Football
ESPN staff 9y

Neymar bags four vs. Japan to surpass Bebeto as Brazil's fifth-highest scorer

Neymar became Brazil's fifth-highest scorer of all time on Tuesday as he registered all four goals in a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Javier Aguirre's Japan in Singapore.

The Barcelona forward has now scored 40 goals in 58 international appearances, surpassing the 39-goal tally of Bebeto, who played for the Selecao between 1985 and 1998, and who was part of Carlos Alberto Parreira's 1994 World Cup-winning side.

At just 22 years of age, Neymar will no doubt set his sights on Pele's record of 77 Brazil goals, though he will first need to overtake Zico (48), Romario (55) and Ronaldo (62).

Neymar has now netted 13 times in 12 international contests in 2014, including four goals in five games at the 2014 World Cup.

However, a broken vertebra sustained in the quarterfinal win against Colombia curtailed the rest of his tournament, preventing him from featuring in the 7-1 semifinal thrashing by Germany.

The former Santos man also became the first player to score four or more goals in a single match for Brazil since Romario against Venezuela in 2000.

Speaking after the match, Neymar expressed his delight at the achievement but insisted that the most important thing was that Brazil keep winning.

"I got goose bumps [over the four goals]," he told ESPN. "It was a very emotional moment, I felt immense happiness. 

"In my wildest dreams I couldn't have imagined something like this. To tell you, I am very happy and grateful to God for all he has done.

"I don't know if I have a limit. I just want to help my teammates and the Selecao. I think about helping, it doesn't matter whether I score the goals or my teammates do.

"After the first, the second, of course you want to score more, but for the good of the team, not for individualism.

"Our team has dynamic players, with great ability and we use it. It could have been more, but we must congratulate the team for what we did today."

Neymar gave Brazil the lead in the 18th minute as he ran onto Diego Tardelli's precise through ball before rounding Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima and firing high into the net.

He got his second three minutes after half-time, latching onto a perfectly-weighted pass from Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho and sidefooting past Kawashima, and marked his hat-trick in the 77th minute with a close-range finish.

And Neymar wrapped up his fourth with nine minutes to go as he rose unmarked in the six-yard box to head home Kaka's inviting cross.

The 4-0 win over Japan continues Brazil's perfect record under Dunga's second stint, winning four out of four matches, without conceding a single goal.

Neymar has also been in superb form for Barcelona this season, with his seven goals in six league games coinciding with Luis Enrique's side leading the La Liga table.

^ Back to Top ^