Match report Cameroon 1 Brazil 4

Neymar once again lived up to his superstar billing and hauled Brazil into the last 16 and a tricky encounter with neighbours Chile.

Two cracking first half goals put his side in control, but Brazil are beginning to look worryingly more and more like a one-man team.

There can’t have been any player under more pressure at this World Cup than the competition’s poster boy and star striker of the hosts and favourites.

Just 22, Neymar has carried the hopes and dreams of an entire nation. Most would have buckled under such a burden. This lad has thrived on it.

The fact that Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side took their presumed spot at the head of Group A is almost entirely down to the boy with the streaked blond hair because, believe me, the rest look nothing special.

In the first two games it had been more sombre than samba football. Brazil didn’t just need a win, they needed to win in style.

Second half goals by Fred and Fernandinho gave the scoreline a flattering look because Cameroon, pointless, goalless and riven with in-fighting, were never the cannon fodder they were meant to be.

It ought to be team-mate Hulk that you shouldn’t anger, but when Nyom gave Neymar an unnecessary shove into the cameramen in the 16th minute, retribution quickly followed.

A minute later Luiz Gustavo delivered a low cross from the left and Neymar opened up his body to steer an exquisite side-footer into the far corner to get the party started.

Neymar then had a volley parried away by Charles Itandje and the keeper scrambled to grab a close-in effort from Fred just before it crossed the line.

But when there’s a party, there’s always a party pooper. On this occasion it was Joel Matip, and he even gave Brazil a warning with a header that came off the angle of post and bar.

Less than a minute later, Nyom got the better of Dani Alves and his low cross took out the entire Brazilian defence to allow Matip to slot in unmarked at the far post.

Suddenly the hosts’ nerves were rattling. Every corner forced by the Africans caused mayhem. So it again fell to their main man to come to the rescue.

Marcelo found Neymar on the left and he did the rest, cutting in and finishing clinically with his right foot from the edge of the box.

Late in the half Hulk’s blocked finish couldn’t do justice to a wonderful move in which Neymar predictably played a key role.

Itandje went on overtime after the break, turning Fred’s shot round the post by and tipping Neymar’s free kick over, but he couldn’t get anywhere near stopping Fred’s 49th minute header from David Luiz’s cross.

He’d only scored one goal in the last 12 months for Brazil and it seemed that the whole country breathed a collective sigh of relief when that one went in.

Scolari withdrew Neymar in the 71st minute after he’d taken a knock. It looked precautionary and considering how much his team has come to rely on their talisman, it was a no brainer.

With Mexico threatening to pinch top spot on goal difference with an impressive win over Croatia, Manchester City’s Fernandinho eased the nerves in the 85th minute with a finely taken fourth.