Throwback Thursday: When Neymar hit FOUR against Japan

Raisa Simplicio

Throwback Thursday: When Neymar hit FOUR against Japan image

The Chevrolet Brasil Global Tour resumes this week in Lille to reunite the historic relationship between Brazil Japan.

The two sides meet in Lille at on Friday, and ahead of the game attentions have turned back to the last time they clashed – when Neymar fired the Selecao to victory and himself into the history books.


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Nobody has scored more goals in Brazil-Japan games than the PSG star, who helped himself to a double in his first taste of the encounter back in 2012.

He then found the net again when they met at the 2013 Confederations Cup, inspiring Brazil to run out 3-0 victors.

That strike saw him overtake Zinho, Flavio Conceiçao and Ronaldo, all of whom had found the net twice against Japan.

Ney then set about putting distance between him and the rest – and in emphatic fashion!

Brazil last met Japan on the Brasil Global Tour of 2014, on a night when Neymar smashed all four goals in a 4-0 victory in Singapore.

“I am so happy, it feels immense to realise my dreams,” he said that night. "But even in my wildest of dreams, I would not imagine scoring four goals in one game – but it's happened.”
 
It did. And it saw him join the likes of Ademir de Menezes, Evaristo de Macedo, Zizinho, Julinho Botelho, Careca, Romario and Zico in an illustrious list of Brazil’s four-goals heroes. 

Even Pele never managed more than a hat-trick for the Selecao. And Neymar, just 22-years-old at the time, is the youngest Brazil player ever to manage the landmark.

Of the seven others who have netted four times in a single game for Brazil, Ademir de Menezes was the only player to do it in a World Cup finals match. In 1950, he led Brazil to a 7-1 thrashing over Sweden with his haul.

Evaristo de Macedo, however, went one better – hitting five goals against Colombia in a 9-0 South American Championships win in 1957.

Evaristo de Macedo no Barcelona

Over to you, Ney.

Raisa Simplicio