As a fan of the beautiful game, pre-World Cup friendlies tend to be terrible because no one wants to get hurt. Teams don’t reveal much tactically and the games turn out to be more of a scrimmage then a highly competitive match. Every so often — like the give-and-go between Michael Bradley and Fabian Johnson on Sunday — we get treated to a wonderful work of art.
Not only did Neymar bend a free kick into the back of the net in the first half, he blessed us with a filthy no-look backheel assist to Hulk just after halftime, leading his team to a 4-0 rout over Panama in their penultimate friendly before hosting the World Cup.
While the stadiums in Brazil may not be ready in time for the start of the tournament, the team certainly is.
