Rating the Brazil Players Against Mexico

Brazil did enough to see off Mexico 2-0 in their Confederations Cup clash, but the home side will need to improve if they are to get past the top sides in this tournament.

Two moments of brilliance from Neymar bookended a fairly unimpressive performance from the samba boys, with the new Barcelona signing volleying a superb goal in the ninth minute, then setting Jo up for Brazil's second goal with some electrifying dribbling two minutes before the final whistle.

In between, the Mexicans gave their hosts quite a tough time of it, exposing some flaws that coach Luiz Felipe Scolari will have to work on before Brazil's final group match.

Here we take a look through Brazil's formation to rate each individual's contribution.

Defense

Veteran shot-stopper Julio Cesar had a reasonably quiet night at the back, though he was flawless when called upon and did well to rush out of his box to extinguish one threat.

There is only one man in the world who could make right-back Dani Alves look like a conservative defender by comparison, and that is his teammate Marcelo over on the other flank.

Alves was sound throughout and even came up with a couple of last-ditch interventions to get his side out of trouble. He did not venture forward as much as we are used to seeing from him, although he almost scored a sumptuous goal with a well-weighted chip after 13 minutes.

Marcelo scored a nine out of 10 for his attacking play down the left this afternoon and a four out of 10 for his shaky defensive work. He combined brilliantly with Neymar going forward but left plenty of space behind him when doing so and was skinned on several occasions by both Giovani dos Santos and Pablo Barrera.

Thiago Silva is one of the finest defenders on the planet at the moment, and showed his usual class today. The one blight on his game was the yellow card he picked up for an unnecessary foul on Javier Hernandez.

David Luiz lacks the positional sense of his center back partner, but the fact he has Silva beside him allows him to produce his best for Brazil. He was dominant in the air against Mexico and produced several saving tackles to halt dangerous Mexican attacks.

Ratings:

Julio Cesar B+

Dani Alves B

Thiago Silva A-

David Luiz A-

Marcelo B

Midfield

Luiz Gustavo was used to shield Brazil's back line in this match and he did a fair job of it throughout. In the lengthy periods of time in which Mexico controlled the ball, the Bayern Munich man did appear unable to stamp his authority on the midfield, but the fact he was receiving very little help from the players in front of him excuses him from some of the blame.

Paulinho was charged with instigating Brazil's attacking movements, and he was effective at doing so, particularly in the first half. He went on a scything solo run on 65 minutes that momentarily lifted his side out of a dour spell.

Oscar was largely ineffective today as he simply did not get hold of the ball enough. He will need to do better if he is to take some of the creative pressure off of Neymar. Hernanes was more involved when he came on to replace him.

Ratings:

Luiz Gustavo B

Paulinho B

Oscar C-

Subs: 

Hernanes B

Attack

Neymar scored one goal and set up the other, so you cannot fault his effectiveness in winning this match for his side. It is hard not to compare Neymar to Neymar sometimes, though, as for the first 10 minutes of the game, he looked simply unstoppable. He produced a moment of dazzling skill every time he touched the ball before disappearing for large stretches of the game as his side labored.

He also risks picking up yellow cards with a sloppy tackling technique. Though his role in the side is obviously not to defend, with only Marcelo behind him, he is going to be called on to help out fairly often.

His genius is so breathtaking it is easy to ignore small faults in his game. 

Hulk did well in the first half, with his movement around the attacking third keeping the Mexican defenders on their toes. His influence waned in the second term and he was eventually replaced by Lucas Moura, who had little opportunity to contribute.

Fred stoically held the front line as he was supposed to do but saw very little of the ball before being replaced in the second half. Substitute Jo came on and smacked in a chance that was laid on a plate for him by Neymar.

Ratings:

Hulk B

Fred C

Neymar A-

Subs:

Lucas Moura n/a

Jo B