Brazil beats South Korea 2-0 in friendly in Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) Neymar and Oscar scored either side of halftime to give Brazil a 2-0 win over South Korea in a friendly on Saturday.

Neymar curled home a free kick from just outside the area to put the 2014 World Cup host ahead in the 44th minute. Three minutes after the break, a simple through pass from Paulinho freed Oscar and the Chelsea star rounded goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong to extend Brazil's lead.

"While it was good to score from a free kick, I prefer to score from open play" Neymar said. "It was not an easy game and there were many tackles on me but when I got used to it, it was not a big problem."

The five-time world champion did not play at its best but took the chances that came its way in clinical fashion.

"We played better than I expected," said Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, referring to the lengthy trip to East Asia. "We overcame the situation well, started to play the way we wanted to play and picked up a good win against a strong team. Korea had us worried and was excellent in the final 20 minutes."

After a shaky start, South Korea exerted considerable pressure on the South Americans but struggled to create clear openings.

"We can take confidence from this game," said South Korea coach Hong Myong-bo, who was captain of the team that defeated Brazil in Seoul in 1999, the last Asian team to do so.

"We made just two mistakes and lost the game," Hong added. "The players did their best against a very good opponent and while I am sorry we did not win in front of a big crowd, we can build upon the performance."

Brazil continues its Asian tour on Tuesday by taking on Zambia in Beijing while South Korea, which has already qualified for the World Cup, hosts Mali.