Alexandre Pato scored again to help a new-look and more adventurous Brazil beat Iran 3-0 on Thursday in their second win in two internationals under new coach Mano Menezes.
Daniel Alves, one of only five members of the World Cup squad who played on Thursday, opened the scoring in Brazil's second game since their World Cup failure.
Pato got the second midway through the second half and Nilmar added the third in stoppage time.
Menezes replaced Dunga following Brazil's quarter-final exit at the World Cup and has already shown his intention to replace his predecessor's pragmatic and unpopular counter-attacking game with a more free-flowing style.
In their first outing under Menezes in August, Brazil produced an entertaining 2-0 win over the United States with Pato scoring his first international goal for two years.
Brazil, who gave a debut to 18-year-old Philippe Coutinho, had a lucky escape at the start when Iran forward Mohammad Gholami had the ball in their net only to see his effort disallowed for offside.
Having survived that, the 2014 World Cup hosts went ahead with an Alves free kick that went in off a post in the 14th minute.
Brazil took control and should have increased their lead when captain Robinho's shot hit the crossbar and Pato fired over from the rebound when it looked easier to score.
Brazil, whose next outing is against Ukraine in England on Monday, gave debuts to defender Rever and midfielders Wesley, Elias and Giuliano as Menezes shuffled his team at halftime.
But they nearly conceded an equaliser when Javad Nekounam struck the post just after the break.
Pato was guilty of more misses as Brazil regained control but the AC Milan player finally hit the target in the 69th minute after latching on to an Elias pass.
Substitute Nilmar completed the scoring when he turned in a cross by Andre Santos.
Iran , preparing for the upcoming Asian Cup 2011 in Qatar , awarded the veteran Karim Bagheri a farewell game. Bagheri's only contribution was a brilliant defense splitting through pass to the other substitute Milad Meydavoudi , whose shot missed the far post by inches.
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Brazil claimed a 3-0 win over Iran in a friendly match in the United Arab Emirates and continued their winning streak since their World Cup quarter-final exit.
Goals by Dani Alves, Alexandre Pato and Nilmar gave Brazil their second win in as many games under new boss Mano Menezes, who coached the five-time World Cup winners to a 2-0 friendly triumph over the United States two months ago after he succeeded Dunga.
In the first ever meeting between the sides Brazil showed no mercy with their opponents right from the start as they recorded five shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes, including a Robinho attempt which hit the left-hand post.
They took an early lead as Alves fired a free-kick into the top-left corner via the upright in the 13th minute.
As soon as the second half started, Menezes decided to give reserves the opportunity to play so Elias came in for debutant Philippe Coutinho, Giuliano for Carlos Eduardo and Sandro replaced Ramires, while Robinho came off for Nilmar.
Twenty-four minutes into the second half, Elias showed Menezes' decision was right as he set up Pato, who burst into the box to beat Mehdi Rahmati with a right-foot strike.
Javad Nekounam also hit the post for Iran in the opening minutes of the second period.
In the 73rd minute, Karim Bagheri was introduced for Masoud Shojaei to mark his farewell appearance for the national team, his 87th match for his country.
The 37-year-old midfielder, who played for Iran in the 1998 World Cup, failed to increase his 50-goal international tally.
Nilmar missed the chance to make it 3-0 after he got the ball from Andre Santos with six minutes left but made amends in injury-time, applying the finish to a Giuliano cross from the left to the far post.
Iran had the chance to reduce the deficit seconds before the final whistle as Bagheri assisted Andranik Teymourian, who shot wide, very close to the far post. |