BRASILIA (Reuters) – Neymar is an idol to Brazil fans who have pinned their hopes on the talented forward bringing success but manager Luis Felipe Scolari believes he still has to learn how to be a team player.

Scolari said Brazil will start their Confederations Cup campaign against Japan on Saturday with the same side that beat France 3-0 in their final friendly in Porto Alegre on Sunday with Neymar aiming to fashion an opening win for the hosts.

BRASILIA, June 14 (Reuters) – Neymar is an idol to Brazil fans who have pinned their hopes on the talented forward bringing success but manager Luis Felipe Scolari believes he still has to learn how to be a team player.

Scolari said Brazil will start their Confederations Cup campaign against Japan on Saturday with the same side that beat France 3-0 in their final friendly in Porto Alegre on Sunday with Neymar aiming to fashion an opening win for the hosts.

BRASILIA, June 14 (Reuters) – Losing the first match of a tournament is terrible, said Brazil coach Luis Felipe Scolari on the eve of the Confederations Cup opener against Japan.

Scolari was in charge of hosts Portugal when they lost the opening game of Euro 2004 to Greece and his side went on to lose again to the same opponents in the final three weeks later.

LONDON (Reuters) – Ukraine dented Montenegro’s hopes of qualifying for the World Cup finals for the first time with a stunning 4-0 win that blasted Group H wide open on Friday when the fancied teams were made to fight hard for their points.

Scotland, who have no chance of reaching next year’s finals in Brazil, epitomised the battling spirit shown by some of the underdogs with a shock 1-0 victory in Croatia where a Robert Snodgrass goal hit the hosts’ chances of topping Group A.

LONDON, June 7 (Reuters) – Ukraine dented Montenegro’s hopes of qualifying for the World Cup finals for the first time with a stunning 4-0 win that blasted Group H wide open on Friday when the fancied teams were made to fight hard for their points.

Scotland, who have no chance of reaching next year’s finals in Brazil, epitomised the battling spirit shown by some of the underdogs with a shock 1-0 victory in Croatia where a Robert Snodgrass goal hit the hosts’ chances of topping Group A.

LONDON (Reuters) – Tahiti will take their place on football’s world stage for the first time at the Confederations Cup in Brazil this month – but it won’t be their last because in September the Pacific Ocean island is hosting FIFA’s Beach Soccer World Cup.

“Many people are surprised we actually play football on grass and not just on the beach for fun, but we do, and we are improving at it,” Henri Thierry Ariiotima, the president of the Tahiti FA, told Reuters at last week’s FIFA Congress in Mauritius.

LONDON (Reuters) – This month’s Confederations Cup is far more than just a straight dress rehearsal for next year’s World Cup finals because nothing is straightfoward as far as football in Brazil is concerned.

Controversies involving the government, FIFA, local sports bodies, construction companies, politicians and the police have hampered preparations since Brazil, the only candidate, was formally announced as World Cup host in October 2007.

LONDON, June 7 (Reuters) – This month’s Confederations Cup is far more than just a straight dress rehearsal for next year’s World Cup finals because nothing is straightfoward as far as soccer in Brazil is concerned.

Controversies involving the government, FIFA, local sports bodies, construction companies, politicians and the police have hampered preparations since Brazil, the only candidate, was formally announced as World Cup host in October 2007.

LONDON, June 7 (Reuters) – Tahiti will take their place on soccer’s world stage for the first time at the Confederations Cup in Brazil this month – but it won’t be their last because in September the Pacific Ocean island is hosting FIFA’s Beach Soccer World Cup.

“Many people are surprised we actually play football on grass and not just on the beach for fun, but we do, and we are improving at it,” Henri Thierry Ariiotima, the president of the Tahiti FA, told Reuters at last week’s FIFA Congress in Mauritius.

LONDON (Reuters) – On his first day at Chelsea nearly nine years ago, Jose Mourinho declared himself “a special one” and he will have to do something rather special on his return there to disprove the old adage that you should never go back.

Time and again, managers who have returned for a second, or even in rare cases, a third or fourth spell at their old English clubs have failed to achieve what they did first time around.