A Tottenham Hotspur playmaker and former Liverpool attacker feature in our second ‘World 5’ of the week.
Enjoy the latest edition of our World Football video feature, every Tuesday and Friday at 1pm
1) Marcelo leads Brazil to victory
It is international friendly season, and Brazil took on the USA in midweek, both coming off strong victories over Denmark and Scotland. The US didn’t put up much of a fight, being put to the sword 4-1 by a strong and youthful Brazil side. Neymar scored the first from the penalty spot, while Real Madrid’s Marcelo finished off an excellent team goal for the pick of the bunch, before later providing an assist for Alexandre Pato. Watch Marcelo’s goal below.
2) Santi Cazorla free-kick pick against Korea
Spain meanwhile enjoyed a comfortable friendly win over South Korea, in a match noted by most for Fernando Torres’ first international goal for a year. Former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso netted from the penalty spot, but the best goal was scored by Malaga midfielder Santi Cazorla. He drilled in a free-kick to the delight of his teammates and it is well worth a watch. It says everything about the quality of Spain’s midfield that Cazorla will struggle for starts at Euro 2012.
3) Van der Vaart shines for Dutch
Holland bounced back from a shock 2-1 friendly loss to Bulgaria by beating Slovakia 2-0 on Wednesday night. Tottenham star Rafael van der Vaart scored for the Dutch, with another an own goal forced from an Afellay cross. Van der Vaart has not commented on rumours linking him away with a move to Schalke this week, and if he shows this kind of form in the summer, Spurs will certainly not want to lose him.
4) Voronin misses a sitter
We mentioned Xabi Alonso earlier, one player Liverpool fans were gutted to see leave. One they were keen to see the back of was Ukrainian flop Andriy Voronin. He showed why he never convinced at Anfield with some more wayward finishing against Estonia. The Euro 2012 co-hosts won the match 4-0, but this miss was one out of the Ronny Rosenthal scrapbook.
5) Big guns linked with Ukrainian star
From one Ukranian who has played in the Premier League, to another who might. This week the Premier League’s top clubs, including Chelsea and Manchester United were linked with a move for a player dubbed the ‘Ukranian Messi’. 22-year-old Yevhev Konoplyanka plays for Dnipro, and is set to feature this summer. An outstanding showing may just earn him a move. You can watch his ‘best bits’ below.
If you’ve seen a video we should feature in World 5, tweet us @hitcsport
image: © Jan S0L0
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