Neymar & Rafael to start for Brazil against USA

Brazil coach Mano Menezes has confirmed that Santos duo Neymar and Rafael Cabral will both be on the pitch when the Selecao lock horns with the United States on Wednesday.

The youngsters were unavailable during Saturday's 3-1 victory over Denmark due to their involvement in Santos' Copa Libertadores triumph over Velez Sarsfield just two days previously, but met up with the rest of a youthful Brazil squad in the United States looking forward to the latest friendly.

As confirmed by Globoesporte following the South Americans' final training session on Tuesday, both Rafael and Neymar will feature from the beginning against Jurgen Klinsmann's team.

The goalkeeper has the chance to impress ahead of the Olympics in London as he replaces Botafogo's Jefferson between the posts, while Neymar comes in for Sao Paulo teenager Lucas and will form a three-man attack alongside Hulk and Leandro Damiao.

Menezes explained his decision to drop the 19-year-old in favour of the Peixe star, stating that it was a logical step given the forward's superior form.

"The tactical set-up is basically the same as against Denmark. The difference is that at the moment Neymar is playing better than Lucas, but still there are great expectations for Lucas," the coach told reporters.

"But we have to recognise that Neymar is on another level."

Probable Brazil team (4-3-3): Rafael; Danilo, Juan, Thiago Silva, Marcelo; Sandro, Romulo, Oscar; Neymar, Hulk, L. Damiao.

Overall Medal Count

Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 United States 46 29 29 104
2 China 38 27 23 88
3 Great Britain 29 17 19 65
4 Russia 24 26 32 82
5 South Korea 13 8 7 28
6 Germany 11 19 14 44
7 France 11 11 12 34
63 Malaysia 0 1 1 2

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