A superb 83rd minute free-kick from captain Neymar gave Brazil a winning start under new coach Dunga as they beat Colombia 1-0 in a fiercely contested friendly on Friday.
It will take more than a win of this nature, against a team reduced to ten men for the last 41 minutes, to put the harrowing 7-1 loss World Cup semi-final loss to Germany out of Brazil's minds, but Dunga said the win was a confidence booster.
"It is always good to win,” said Dunga. “This will help the players to regain self-esteem and confidence. I told them that they are here because they are the best and they have dreamt their whole life to be here. They should not be afraid and just have to go out there and play.”
Colombia midfielder Juan Cuadrado was sent off in the 49th minute following a second yellow card for a foul on Neymar and there was no shortage of effort – or indeed rough challenges – from both teams.
New Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao made his return to the Colombian team for the first time since November as a 77th minute substitute to the delight of the large and loud Colombian contingent in the capacity 73,429 crowd at SunLife stadium.
"He wasn't really able to play more than those minutes," said Colombia coach Jose Pekerman.
"After such a complicated week with all the stress of his move to Manchester United, it would have been a risk to play him more minutes especially ahead of a season where he is going to have a lot of tough games with a new club, with a lot of responsibility.
"But the few minutes he did have were important and he was even close to the goal. He gives this team a lot, they are confident with him and he gives us different options."
Published in The Express Tribune, September 7th, 2014.
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