South Africa coach Gordon Igesund feels that the notable difference between 2014 World Cup hosts Brazil and current World Champions Spain is the individual quality of Neymar.
Neymar bagged a hat-trick as the Samba Boys cruised to a 5-0 win over Bafana Bafana in an international friendly encounter at the FNB Stadium in Soweto on Wednesday evening.
Igesund guided Bafana to a memorable 1-0 win over Spain at the same venue four months ago, but South Africa had no answers for the Barcelona star who took A Selecao to an emphatic victory in their last game before Luiz Felipe Scolari announces his World Cup squad.
“I think against Spain, we watch teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona on a regular basis and sometimes they can become a bit predictable, they play the same way.
“They pass the ball around but what Brazil do differently is they have players who can run with the ball and eliminate players, like Neymar,” said Igesund.
“When he gets the ball he runs with it with pace and great skills and it caused us many, many problems where Spain haven’t got that type of player, they don’t have a player like Ronaldo.
“I think the big difference between the two teams [Spain in Brazil] was that Brazil was excellent. I think they wanted to show the world that they are going to be the favourites to win the World Cup.
“Their striking force is outstanding and their ability to eliminate players with speed and precision, that is the difference between the two teams.”
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