Five things we learned from Brazil's 4-2 win over Italy

Neymar

Neymar has lived up to his reputation so far

It takes a certain kind of ability to stand out in a team of Brazilians, and Neymar looks the part. He is a viewer’s delight, his curling freekick leaving even Buffon stumped. With Marcelo also playing high up the field, Brazil overloaded Italy in the rightback zone a number of times; Marcelo even had a shot on target palmed away by Buffon, with Fred slotting home the rebound. Brazil used their main weapon to good effect; and although Marcelo was at times caught too far forward, the gamble largely worked. Alves on the other side was not as attack-minded; Marcelo’s positioning at times was dangerous and risky and Italy exploited it fully once. But that’s the risk Scolari was willing to take, and the team, and the star player himself, responded on the day.