International Friendly: Brazil 4 Panama 0

Brazil showed no signs of pre-FIFA World Cup nerves as they effortlessly swept Panama aside in a 4-0 friendly victory on Tuesday.

With Brazil set to host the marquee tournament, the weight of expectation to deliver a sixth World Cup triumph has arguably never been higher.

However, led by a fine display from forward Neymar, Luis Felipe Scolari’s men earned a comfortable win in their first warm-up fixture in Goiana.

After a somewhat tepid opening, Neymar lit up the game with a superb free-kick that left Panama goalkeeper Oscar McFarlane with no chance, before Daniel Alves doubled the lead with a low drive shortly before the break.

Neymar then turned provider for the third with an excellent assist for Hulk, who produced an expert finish, with substitute Willian rounding off the scoring late on.

Brazil had further chances for a fifth, but had to settle for the four-goal triumph and will now prepare for Friday’s encounter with Serbia, their last before their tournament begins against Croatia next week.

After a frustrating opening, a moment of quality from Neymar sparked the game into life in the 27th minute.

Luis Tejada was booked for crudely fouling the Barcelona man, but he responded by picking himself up and expertly bending a 20-yard free-kick in the top left-hand corner.

Buoyed by the goal Brazil went in search of an immediate second and Neymar showed a neat bit of skill on the left before clipping a ball into the area that Fred failed to make clean contact with.

Brazil were now in complete control, and they deservedly had a second five minutes before the break when Alves hit an angled drive from the right-edge of the box that found the far corner.

It took less than a minute of the second half for Brazil to add a third, Neymar showed great vision to pick out Hulk’s run on the left with a sublime backheel, and the Zenit forward fired past McFarlane with the outside of his left foot.

Neymar continued to torment, first providing a pin-point cross for Fred who made a hash of the close-range header, before seeing a left-foot shot well saved.

Panama had created little at the other end but Roberto Nurse forced Julio Cesar into action just before the hour mark, the goalkeeper springing to his left to prevent his looping header.

Scolari made a string of substitutions as the second half wore on and one of the new faces, Willian, grabbed the fourth after Maxwell showed desire and technique on the left.

The game ended in a state of confusion as referee Raul Orozco brandished a red card in Panama defender Gabriel Gomez’s direction.

Gomez had handled the ball to deny Maicon a clear opportunity at goal, but the referee withdrew his decision, allowing the player to stay on and play to continue.