The
Paris
Saint-Germain
forward
scored
a
tap-in
having
earlier
set
up
Everton
Ribeiro
as
Brazil
saw
off
Peru
2-0
in
Recife
on
Thursday
(September
9).

That
was
the
Selecao’s
eighth
win
from
eight
matches
on
the
road
to
Qatar
2022
and
ninth
qualifying
victory
in
a
row
overall,
which
equalled
the
longest
streak
in
CONMEBOL
history.

Neymar’s
strike
saw
him
overtake
Romario
and
Zico
as
Brazil’s
highest
scorer
in
World
Cup
qualifiers
on
12
goals,
half
of
those
coming
in
the
current
campaign.

He
is
also
now
just
eight
behind
legendary
forward
Pele’s
all-time
record
of
77
goals
for
Brazil,
scoring
his
69
goals
in
113
appearances.

But
after
coming
in
for
more
criticism
following
Brazil’s
1-0
win
over
Chile
last
week,
with
some
suggesting
he
was
overweight,
Neymar
has
hit
back
at
his
critics.

“Obviously,
the
team
is
the
most
important,”
he
told
TV
Globo.

“I’m
very
happy
to
be
the
top
scorer
in
the
qualifiers,
have
the
most
assists
for
the
national
team
and
soon,
if
all
goes
well,
it
will
be
an
honour
to
pass
Pele
as
the
all-time
scorer.

“I
don’t
know
anymore
what
I
have
to
do
for
people
to
respect
me.
This
is
normal,
it’s
been
a
long
time.
Reporters,
commentators,
others
too.

“Sometimes
I
don’t
even
like
to
talk
in
interviews
anymore,
but
at
an
important
moment
I
come
to
show
up.
I
leave
it
to
the
guys
to
think
a
little
bit.”

With
their
latest
victory,
Brazil
are
the
first
South
American
team
in
qualifying
history
to
keep
nine
consecutive
clean
sheets
at
home.

Tite’s
men
remain
six
points
clear
of
second-placed
Argentina,
who
beat
Bolivia
3-0
thanks
to
a
Lionel
Messi
hat-trick,
and
are
on
the
verge
of
sealing
a
spot
at
Qatar
2022.

“It’s
another
good
result
and
our
winning
sequence
continues
but
we
haven’t
mathematically
qualified
yet,”
Casemiro
added.

“We
have
to
continue
to
work
hard
but
we
know
that
we’re
on
the
right
track.”

Brazil,
whose
high-profile
match
with
Argentina
last
Sunday
was
farcically
suspended
early
in
the
game,
return
to
action
in
early
October
with
a
trip
to
bottom
side
Venezuela.