Neymar, Philippe Coutinho Lead Brazil To 3-0 Rout Of Argentina In World Cup Qualifier

Brazil raced to an impressive 3-0 home victory over Argentina in Thursday night’s CONMEBOL 2018 Russia World Cup Qualifying match thanks to goals from Neymar, Philippe Coutinho and Paulinho.

Neymar, Philippe Coutinho Lead Brazil To 3-0 Rout Of Argentina In World Cup Qualifier

The game marked Brazil’s first contest at the Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil since falling to Germany 7-1 in the semifinals of the 2014 World Cup.

Brazil, who made history this summer by winning the country’s first soccer gold medal at the Rio Olympics, began tentatively against their South American rival as Fernandinho was given an early yellow card for a foul on Lionel Messi.

The visitors, who lost to Germany in the 2014 World Cup finals, dominated the early exchanges, with Lucas Biglia forcing a great stretching save from Alisson off a half-volley from outside the penalty area at the 23-minute mark.

However, Coutinho soon had the Mineirao crowd roaring after he fired a shot from outside the box in the 25th. The Liverpool midfielder took a ball on the left sideline, cut inside onto his right foot and blasted his effort past Sergio Romero to give Brazil a 1-0 lead.

Twenty minutes later, the hosts doubled their lead just before halftime. Neymar took a slide-rule pass behind the defense from Gabriel Jesus and calmly shot into Romero’s far corner. The goal marked the Barcelona forward’s 50th international score in just 74 appearances.

Paulinho nearly made it 3-0 after the break, but his shot after rounding Romero was saved off the line by a back-tracking Pablo Zabaleta. 

Nevertheless, the Tottenham midfielder eventually scored Brazil’s third, pouncing onto Renato Augusto’s sliding pull back and shooting into the net from the middle of the box.

With the win, Brazil–energized since the arrival of new manager Tite– remains atop the CONMEBOL table with 24 points from 11 games.

Messi said, following the loss, that Argentina needs a ‘drastic mentality change,’ in order to improve.

“We need to change our mental approach,” he said. “If one is not mentally well then the legs don’t respond.

“We need to change this s—ty situation. We didn’t expect this result. It could have even been worse. We weren’t able to react.”

Meanwhile, Argentina remain in sixth place– one out of a qualifying spot– with 16.

Uruguay also defeated Ecuador 2-1 in Montevideo on Thursday. Colombia and Chile fought to a 0-0 draw.

BELO HORIZONTE, BRAZIL – NOVEMBER 10: Neymar (C) of Brazil struggles for the ball with Nicolas Otamendi (L) and Pablo Zabaleta of Argentina during a match between Brazil and Argentina as part of 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Qualifier at Mineirao stadium on November 10, 2016 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)