Conmebol Qualifiers: Neymar and Paqueta take Brazil to the World Cup

Brazil defeated Colombia at Neo Quimica Arena in Sao Paulo on Thursday night to secure their World Cup direct ticket as the top dog in Conmebol.

Brazil have been leading the South American qualifiers since the tournament started but they did give up some distance against Argentina at the top.

Meanwhile, Colombia is still struggling in fifth place with 16 points against teams like Chile. Manager Reinaldo Rueda decided to not call Radamel Falcao for these games despite his spectacular form in La Liga for Rayo Vallecano. A decision he might regret after this week's games are done.

Tonight, the Colombia National Team wanted to trust Duvan Zapata and Luis Diaz for all offensive game against the powerful 'Canarinha'. Neymar is still the team's leader but manager 'Tite' decided to give Vinicius Junior his chance to shine. Action wasn't that clear until the second half between both sides due to Colombia's rough timing on the defensive side.

As usual, the PSG forward is getting kicked out of his mind from all over the place but he still decides to go on the attack. Eventually, he found that space he was looking for during the second half of the game. 'Tite' decided to use Vinicius at the start of the second half, which granted the locals more depth on the left flank.

Neymar finds Paqueta for the winner.

Late in the second half, Neymar eventually found Lucas Paqueta with a brilliant reactive assist that barely gave him time to think. The Lyon playmaker scored the winning goal with a shot straight to the keeper's post and effectively granted Brazil their ticket. This result offers a breath of fresh air to Brazl right before one of the most crucial matches of the qualifiers.

They play Argentina on Tuesday at San Juan's Bicentenario Stadium without that added pressure to get their World Cup direct access. Argentina does have to keep winning in order to keep themselves in second place. We will get to see another confrontation between buddies Neymar and Leo Messi. But tonight, that single Paqueta goal was more than enough.