Neymar snags equaliser as Brazil hold Colombia; Mexico triumph

Neymar didn’t disappoint in his much anticipated return on Friday, grabbing a second-half equalizer for Brazil in a 2-2 friendly draw with Colombia on Friday.

The Paris Saint-Germain star was playing for the first time for club or country since suffering an ankle injury in a friendly against Qatar in June, which ruled him out of the Copa America.

Since then the Brazilian star had been embroiled in a long-running transfer saga that ended this week with the Brazilian staying at PSG -- a return to Barcelona finally ruled out.

Before a sell-out crowd of 65,232 at Hard Rock Stadium, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, Neymar delivered for Brazil, scoring the equalizer in the 58th after setting up Casemiro for the game’s opening goal in the 20th minute.

Colombia were lacking top stars James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao, but thanks to Luis Muriel’s brace they gave Copa America champions Brazil a fright before Neymar rode to the rescue and Tite’s men extended their unbeaten run.

Although Neymar made a quiet start, it was his cross from a corner that found a soaring Casemiro, who nodded past helpless Colombian keeper David Ospina to open the scoring.

The lead didn’t last long as Luis Muriel converted from the spot in the 25th after taking a high kick from Alex Sandro.

Meanwhile, Erick Gutierrez and Uriel Antuna scored second-half goals as Mexico routed the US 3-0 on Friday in a rematch of the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup final.

PSV Eindhoven’s Gutierrez and Antuna scored just four minutes apart as Mexico posted their biggest win over the US since 2009 in a regional rivalry that has become one-sided of late.

Mexico, who are ranked 12th in the world, have now won five of the last six contests between the countries including a 1-0 victory in their last game, the Gold Cup final on July 7.

Agencies