Brazil emerged 3-0 victors over fierce rivals Argentina thanks to a spectacular performance from Philippe Coutinho as the Selecao moved one step further towards qualification while leaving their neighbours in deep trouble.

There has been a lot of debate surrounding Philippe Coutinho’s quality over the last few seasons with many pundits and fans alike appreciating the Brazilian’s talent but slamming him for his lack of consistency. However, his exploits in the 2016-17 season can’t have too many people complaining, to be honest.

Coutinho has been spectacular at club level for  Liverpool and he carried his good run of form to Brazil with a superlative performance against the fiercest of rivals in Argentina. The ‘little magician’ opened the scoring on the night for the Selecao with a wonder strike from outside the box in the 25th minute to leave the Albiceleste stunned. Neymar then settled the game with a well taken goal in the 46th minute to leave the 2014 World Cup finalists reeling and flirting with the prospects of elimination. Paulinho then compounded the misery with a 3rd in the 58th minute to send the Brazilian supporters ballistic.

However, the night belonged to Coutinho and fans all across the world, especially those in Brazil and in Merseyside, celebrated a genuinely world-class talent in the 24-year-old.

With his goal that provided Brazil their second of the night, Neymar reached a landmark of having scored 50 goals for the national team. Aged just 24, the Barcelona star is only 27 goals behind the all-time Brazilian goal-scoring record of 77 held by Pele, and with nearly his entire career in front of him that record may very well soon be his.

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