Business secretary Vince Cable says huge turnout at TUC march in London will not knock government’s cuts strategy off-course Labour has defended Ed Miliband’s part in Saturday’s peaceful TUC march and rally in London against government spending cuts as the cleanup continued of symbols of wealth damaged by a minority of anarchists. Senior opposition figures condemned the “unrepresentative hooligans” whose behaviour threatened to overshadow the protests of hundreds of thousands of others. Michael Fallon, the deputy Conservative party chairman, accused Labour of “the laughable fiction” that it had “left the country some sort of golden economic legacy” while the business secretary, Vince Cable, told the BBC that while the government was listening to the trade unions, it would not change its strategy because of yesterday’s march. Just over 200 people were arrested and 84 people injured, including 31 police officers, as trouble flared in Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadily and Trafalgar Square, with banks, the Ritz Hotel and upmarket food store Fortnum and Mason among the targets. Attempts were made to damage the Olympic clock in the square and police said they were attacked by missiles including water bottles, coins and lightbulbs filled with ammonia. Alleged offences included criminal damage, aggravated trespass and violent disorder. Eleven police officers required hospital treatment. Injuries were said to be relatively minor, including cuts and bruises, suspected whiplash and a possible broken collar bone. London’s deputy mayor Kit Malthouse condemned those involved in the violence as “fascist agitators”. Miliband told the crowds on Saturday: “We come in the traditions that have marched in peaceful but powerful protest for justice, fairness and political change. “The suffragettes who fought for votes for women and won. The civil rights movement in America that fought against racism and won. The anti-apartheid movement that fought the horror of that system and won.” Speaking on the BBC’s The Politics Show, shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy condemned those involved in the separate clashes in the West End as a “tiny minority of violent, parasitic unrepresentative hooligans”. Asked if Miliband should have associated himself with the rally, he said: “You can’t get to a point where a prominent politician, the leader of the Labour party, isn’t able to go on a demonstration against government cuts.” Pressed over the language surrounding apartheid and the civil rights movement, Murphy said: “Ed has said these were different causes at different times. The size of the demonstration yesterday was enormous and it was a reflection of the comparison of scale.” Tory deputy chairman Fallon claimed Labour had “once again” shown “breathtaking levels of deceit over the economy” and that the party’s plans would mean “spending reductions of just over £2bn less than the coalition’s in the financial year starting in just over a week”. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said the march – the biggest union-organised protest in a generation – exceeded expectations. “It now looks like close to half a million people came to London to express their peaceful but powerful opposition to the government’s deep, rapid and unfair spending cuts. “We are proud of the way that we organised our march and the way that our stewards helped ensure a good-natured and friendly event. Of course we condemn the small numbers who came looking for violence but we will not allow their actions away from our event to detract from our campaign. “With the budget a damp squib, the economy faltering and the NHS reforms becoming more unpopular each and every day, marchers will have returned home determined to step up their democratic campaign against policies that neither government party put before the electorate at the last election.” Malthouse, who chairs the Metropolitan Police Authority, said the police had a “difficult balance” to strike, claiming anarchists – “a nasty bunch of black-shirted thugs” – were intent on “rampaging” around London’s West End. He told BBC Radio 4′s The World this Weekend: “We should all be angry that what was a peaceful and legitimate protest was hijacked by about 250 criminals, many of whom I am pleased to say have now been arrested, for violent insurrection means.” Asked about criticisms over police intelligence, Malthouse said: “I think that would be unfair. I realise in these situations that the armchair generals tend to come out but the truth is the police did a huge amount of work with businesses in the West End, and indeed preparing for the event. We put 4,500 police officers out there … but it was a very, very fast-moving afternoon. “I counted these anarchists myself. They were a nasty bunch of black-shirted thugs on Piccadilly and it was pretty obvious that they were intent on rampaging around and would be very difficult to control. “In the end they were contained … there is a difficult balance because they were intermingling with, and were in amongst, getting on for 400,000 TUC protesters. “Without disrupting the march it would have been very difficult to isolate them and take them out. The truth is the police had to respond to when criminal damage was done and they did so.” He added: “We need to learn the lessons to make sure it doesn’t happen again but also recognise that when you get a group of fascist agitators who want a fight there is not a lot you can do about it other than confront them.” Public sector cuts Protest Public services policy Public finance London TUC Trade unions Ed Miliband Labour James Meikle guardian.co.uk
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Exhibition at Karachi’s Mohatta Palace documents in art Pakistan’s modern political, economic and religious conflicts In pictures: The Rising Tide exhibition After Islamist militants killed Nausheen Saeed’s father last year during an assault on the minority Ahmadi community that left 86 people dead, the Pakistani sculptor worked through her grief in an unusual way. She baked bread. The result was Baked Delicacies – an artwork featuring loaves in the shape of limbs, scattered on a giant tray like pieces of freshly butchered meat. “His death changed everything for me,” said the 41-year-old art college lecturer. “I realised these things have become routine in Pakistan; you forget if it’s a piece of bread or a human.” Saeed’s striking sculpture is part of The Rising Tide, an ambitious exhibition of contemporary art in Karachi that showcases the rich store of Pakistani artists who are thriving despite – and in some cases, because of – their country’s troubles. Spanning 20 years, the collection is located at Mohatta Palace , an ornate Raj-era mansion turned museum. Over the winter 45,000 visitors have traipsed through its halls to see work by more than 40 artists, including Imran Qureshi, who won the top prize at last week’s Sharjah Biennale. “Pakistani art is really coming into focus,” said the museum’s director, Nasreen Askari. “Art thrives on stimulus, and strife and religious conflict are very important catalysts for artistic creation.” Other art forms are also flourishing. Last month crowds flocked to Karachi’s second literature festival, many to see local literary stars such as Mohammed Hanif, Daniyal Mueenuddin and the Man Booker prize contender Mohsin Hamid. The turbulence rocking Pakistan loomed large over many of the discussions, as it does over the art on display at Mohatta. A giant canvas is splattered with blood stains that, on closer inspection, reveal flowers; a fleet of model American drones, fashioned from razor blades, hangs from the ceiling, making ominous tinkling noises. There is a comic book depiction of AQ Khan, the disgraced father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, wearing a Zorro-style mask, and a shiny monument to the victims of suicide bombs. As the exhibition took place, stark reminders of the limits on free expression in Pakistan came with the assassination of the governer of Pakistan’s Punjab province, Salmaan Taseer, and the minorities minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, over the country’s blasphemy law. Few artists, however, are as directly affected as Saeed. After her father died, she said, “even some people I thought were educated and liberal didn’t condole with us. Then you hear people saying ‘they were only Ahmadis’”. While some art draws on Pakistan’s stormy politics, not all artists want to be defined by it. “If you’re from Pakistan, there’s something relentless about the way your country gets talked about, like a sort of cardboard cut-out villain. It gets frustrating,” said Kamila Shamsie, author of several novels set in Karachi. “It gets frustrating, and all of us feel that. “Many artists are looking at other
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Elizabeth Day listens to the experience of two gay refugees from Uganda, where violent homophobia is state policy As a child in Uganda, John Bosco remembers hearing an old wives’ tale that if a man fell asleep in the sun and it crossed over him, he would wake up as a woman. “I used to try that as a kid,” says John now, some 30 years later. He sits at a table in a busy cafe across the road from the railway station in Southampton, his fingers playing with the handle of a glass of hot chocolate. “I’d spend all day lying under the sun. From childhood, I wanted to be a girl. I wanted dolls. At school, I played netball. I wanted to dress up like a girl … I rubbed herbs into my chest that were meant to make your breasts grow. I tried everything but it didn’t work.” He tells me that there was not one single moment when he realised he was gay; that the knowledge of it had always been there, unexpressed until he found the right words. As he grew older, John started being attracted to men. On the radio, he heard stories of gay couples being beaten and killed by police. He says that if he could have changed himself, he would because he so desperately wanted to be considered “normal”, to fit in, to make his family proud. When he went to university to study for a business administration degree, his relatives and neighbours in Kampala would ask why he never had a girlfriend. “I used lots of excuses – I’m not yet ready, or I have a girlfriend who doesn’t live in the same area,” he says. “It was difficult because you cannot be open [about your sexuality]. You can’t socialise like any other person. A lot of the time, you have to keep your distance. You feel you’re not yourself. It makes things really hard.” This is the reality of being gay in modern Uganda, a place where homosexuality is criminalised under the penal code, punishable by life imprisonment. According to human rights organisations, about 500,000 homosexuals live in the country, unable to admit their sexuality for fear of violent retribution either from the police or their own communities. Anti-gay legislation is a relic of British colonialism, designed to punish what the imperial authorities thought of as “unnatural sex” – thinking that was subsequently reinforced by wave upon wave of Catholic missionaries. Although much of that legacy has been dismantled as Uganda modernises, homophobia is as entrenched as ever. An anti-homosexuality bill, due to be discussed by parliament before June, advocates the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” –ie for gay people with HIV practising sex, or gay people who have sex with someone under 18. Known colloquially as the “kill the gays” bill, it would also make it a crime not to report someone you know to be a practising homosexual, thereby putting parents, siblings and friends at risk. “One of the things the Ugandans say is that being gay is European culture, that it is un-African,” explains John, 31. “There is this idea that Europeans and Americans are recruiting people to be gay, giving them money to do it.” Last October, the now defunct anti-gay Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone published a list of the country’s “top 100″ homosexuals under the headline “Hang Them”. In January, the prominent gay-rights activist David Kato was murdered – beaten to death in his home by a hammer-wielding thug. Gays, lesbians and transgendered people in Uganda face harassment, extortion, vandalism, death threats and violence on a daily basis. They can be sacked from employment if they are outed, forced to enter into heterosexual marriage and detained by the authorities without charge or access to legal defence. In some of the worst cases, they can be subjected to so-called “correctional rape”. It is not only Uganda – for years, the developed world has turned a blind eye to the state-sanctioned persecution of homosexuals that exists in 38 out of 53 African nations, according to Human Rights Watch. Now, a new feature-length documentary film seeks to redress the balance. Getting Out , directed by film-maker Alexandra Chapman in conjunction with Christian Aid, tells the story of the gay refugees who are forced to flee discrimination in their own countries. “It is very important for people in the west to understand that legalised and state-sanctioned homophobia is a reality in many parts of Africa,” says Dr Chris Dolan, director of the Refugee Law Project at Makerere University in Kampala, who was instrumental in the making of the film. Dolan, who campaigns extensively to protect the rights of beleaguered minorities in this corner of Africa, says that the political climate in Uganda “enables a wide range of abuses and violations that seriously diminish the quality of life of all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, most of whom seek to stay under the public radar. It also places many such persons in serious and extreme danger.” For John, the danger soon became too great to ignore. At his university freshers’ ball, he met and fell in love with a man called Aziz. The two of them were discreet, taking care not to be seen acting too intimately in public. In this way – never quite being honest, living in the half-shadows, always looking over their shoulders – their relationship continued after graduation when John took a well-paid job in a bank. When John first took Aziz home to visit his family, he was introduced as “my best friend. He became like another son to my mum. That was the way it was until 2001.” Then everything changed. A group of John’s gay friends were arrested in a police crackdown. They were beaten and forced to give the names of other gay people they knew. John realised he had to get out. “I had to disappear,” he says. “I had some money saved up so I paid a private agency to get me a visa, a passport … I didn’t tell anybody I was leaving, not even my family. At first, I didn’t know where I was going. But then, luckily, the guy gave me a visa to the UK.” John Bosco did not know it then, but his problems were only just beginning. Florence Kizza smiles a lot. She has a sharp, pretty face with slanted eyes and straight, white teeth. When she talks, she does so in an even, clear voice, her faint Ugandan accent lending the words an irregular rhythm. We meet in a cafe in Richmond, Surrey, near to where she works as a bank clerk. Although the story she tells me is a horrific one, Florence does not show emotion as she recounts it, beyond a slight narrowing of the eyes, a glance to one side, a short pause in her narrative. She explains that to break down and cry would be to give into something she needs to resist. Because Florence is a woman who defines herself by her survival. Florence is 32, Ugandan and a lesbian. She grew up in Najjanankumbi, on the southern edge of Kampala, the daughter of a prosperous businessman who sent Florence and her sister to a prestigious girls’ boarding school. “I kind of knew [about my sexuality] at school, but those things you don’t talk about,” she says. “It’s something you never breathe out loud. I was brought up a Catholic. Every day, these pastors are preaching that a gay person should be stoned to death, that they should die. If you heard that, would you be open?” When Florence was 16, both of her parents died of Aids within a year of each other. Florence was taken out of school and raised by relatives. The older she got, the more certain she became that she was gay. Lonely and increasingly isolated, she craved companionship. And then, buying food at the market one day, she met a woman called Susan, from the west of the country. “She spoke a different language,” says Florence, “but we just connected. We went for coffee, we talked and then we met up five more times.” Gradually, the two of them became closer but, like John Bosco, they were careful about how they acted together in public. Florence continued to live alone. Still, the fact that she was a woman of marriageable age without a husband aroused the suspicion of the local community. In December 2000, neighbours broke into her house and found her in bed with Susan. The villagers stripped the two women naked, paraded them through the streets and then beat them in front of a baying crowd. “To say it was painful is an understatement,” says Florence now. “You can take being hit but being humiliated around God knows how many people – you lose your dignity. I felt, I wish I could die now.” Banished from her village, Florence was forced to find somewhere else to stay. She spent the nights at Susan’s home, waking up early each morning to sneak out under cover of darkness. But however cautious she tried to be, it was never enough. In March 2001, Florence was arrested and, over a three-day period, was beaten and raped by three policemen at gunpoint. The assault was so ferocious that, 10 years on, Florence still bears the scars. It is cold when we meet and Florence is wearing a long-sleeved zip-up sweatshirt but, even in the milder weather, she does not like to show the twisted ridges of skin that snake all the way up her arms. “Looking back, I think the police officers found me very challenging,” Florence says, and she half-closes her eyelids, as though squinting to make out a murky, distant shape. “There was a time when one of them hit me on the second day and I looked at him and I didn’t cry. I looked very, very calm. I told him: ‘Have you finished? It doesn’t hurt,’ and I laughed.” She looks up, meeting my gaze. “And he stopped.” On the third day, Florence escaped when one of the policemen fell into a drunken stupor and she was able to steal the keys to her cell. She ran out into the streets and got a taxi to a friend’s house. She knew she had to get out of the country before the police tracked her down. She and Susan fled across the border to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There, they paid a human trafficker to take them to the UK. “He said, OK, you have to pay a very big price. He asked for £20,000. I had to give up one of my dad’s plots of land as security.” At the last minute, the trafficker said it was too dangerous for both Florence and Susan to travel at the same time. “He said, it’s one person, you choose. I said Susan should go because I was feeling ill, I didn’t have the energy. But they said I should go because my health was bad and I was the worst off.” In September 2001, Florence flew to the UK and was taken by the trafficker to a B&B in Wembley, north London. He gave her a £50 note and left her there. At the age of 22, Florence was on her own in a sprawling foreign city with little money and no prospects. For days, she walked the streets, unsure of what to do or who to turn to. After her experiences in Uganda, she looked at everyone with mistrust and suspicion. She had to beg for money for food. A man from a local church group eventually took her to the Home Office to seek refugee status but Florence was deeply intimidated by the interview process. “Basically, I didn’t trust authorities because of the bad experiences I had with them in Uganda,” says Florence. “The interviews were degrading. They would ask me to talk about my personal life, to explain how I had sex. The way they looked at me, I just thought, Jesus Christ, am I this disgusting? Honestly, I was so angry. They just had no idea.” Already suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, Florence’s symptoms got worse the further she travelled through the UK appeals system. Her initial application to stay was refused, on the grounds that she would be safe if she returned to Uganda, relocated to a different area of the country and acted “discreetly”. According to Erin Power, the group manager of the UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group, a large part of the problem for gay Ugandan refugees is an unwillingness to talk openly about a sexual identity that they have had to keep secret all their lives, often even from themselves. “If they do what they’re supposed to do and approach the Home Office as soon as they land in the UK, you’re asking them to go up to a figure of authority in a uniform and tell them they’re gay,” says Power. “But that is the person who, in their country, will persecute them for speaking openly. “We have clients who have never said they’re gay before. The idea that they can identify themselves is problematic because often they have kept it secret all their lives … Some clients have never had sex, but we argue that being LGBT is not about who you have sex with, it’s about who you are and what your identity is. We’ve struggled to get the Home Office not to focus on sex. Up till now you’ve had to prove two things: one, that you’re gay or lesbian and two, that your country’s dangerous.” How do you prove you’re gay? Power laughs. “Everyone always asks that.” John Bosco was facing similar problems in a different part of town. Having arrived in London with £600, John found a room to rent in Manor Park, north London. “I thought, if I can get to an English-speaking country, I’ll be OK. As soon as I get there, I can get a job because I have qualifications. I didn’t know the asylum system at all.” When he tried to apply for jobs, he was told he needed a national insurance number. “I didn’t know what it was,” says John. Eventually, a group of Jamaicans he met on the street directed him to the UK Border Agency offices in Croydon. But instead of what he thought would be a straightforward interview, John says he was stripped naked, asked for his fingerprints, bundled into a van and taken to the Oakington immigration detention centre in Cambridgeshire. Here, he spoke to the authorities through a translator, but the interpreter was from a different part of Uganda and did not speak the same tribal language so John’s statement was littered with inconsistencies. John, terrified as to how the UK authorities might react, did not tell them that he was gay and that this was the real reason he had fled Uganda. “They asked me if I wanted a solicitor,” he says now, shaking his head. “I didn’t know what this word meant.” Failing to make himself understood or to provide a consistent story to explain his refugee status ended up costing John dearly. From Oakington, he was taken to Haslar, an immigration removal centre run by the prison service in Portsmouth. For the first few weeks, he had no change of clothes and had to wash his single pair of underpants every day. When a local volunteer visited him to ask if he needed any help, John finally confessed everything. “When she asked me, ‘Why did you leave?’ I said because of my sexuality. She said: ‘That’s OK, that’s not a problem.’ I had to sit back like this.” He leans back in his cafe chair, crossing his arms over his chest with an expression of shock in his eyes. “I was shivering. I’d never had anyone talk to me like that. She was the first person I’d ever told about my sexuality and she was nice to me.” He breaks off, bows his head and rapidly wipes his eyes. After four months in Haslar, John was given leave to stay in the UK but the Home Office appealed against the decision. For the next six years, from 2002 to 2008, John’s life became an exhausting cycle of legal battles. He got a job working at a mental health charity in Southampton and poured £21,000 of his own money into solicitors’ fees. In 2008, during a routine visit to the police station (the terms of his leave to remain in the country required that he report to the police once a month), he was manhandled into a van, taken to the airport and put on a flight back to Uganda. “I was thinking, just kill me. I have no friends, no relatives, nothing. How long is this going to go on? I’m not going to change myself to be accepted.” As with Florence Kizza, the judge in charge of his case had decided that John would face no immediate danger if he returned to Uganda, changed his behaviour and moved to a different part of the country to live “discreetly”. This was in spite of the fact that John’s photograph had been printed on the front page of a national newspaper in Uganda only a few weeks before he was deported. Living discreetly was just about the last thing he could do. Within days of touching down in Kampala, John was arrested. The police threw him into a cell with several other inmates and subjected him to regular beatings. “The beatings are not something you can say you get used to,” he says now. “It’s something you expect.” He bribed the police to release him with the little money he had left and went into hiding for six months. In the end, his solicitors won him refugee status for five years and he was flown back to the UK. But the leave expires in 2014 and John still lives in a state of anxious uncertainty, isolated from his family, friends and his former boyfriend Aziz, all of whom he has found it impossible to trace. “I have bad dreams still: people chasing me, being beaten up,” he says. “Sometimes I sleep and then I think, what will happen after 2014? All I want is freedom, where I can be who I am.” Florence was granted permanent refugee status last year. Since leaving Uganda, she has completed a degree in business management at Kingston University. For a while she worked for a supermarket; now she has a job in the offices of a high-street bank in Twickenham, London. She never heard from her girlfriend Susan again. “We tried really hard to locate her,” she says, her voice drained of emotion. “I think I’m getting used to it.” In July 2010, the UK’s Supreme Court categorically denounced the “discretion reasoning” that had been central to the rejection of both Florence’s and John’s refugee claims, ruling that the decision failed to recognise the human rights of homosexuals and breached the UN refugee convention. The Home Office has since produced a set of guidelines, in consultation with asylum groups, on how to assess the validity of such claims, and all senior case-workers have been put through a one-day training session on the connected issues. “That process finished at the end of February,” says Erin Power, “so we don’t know what the outcome will be. Obviously we hope there will be some improvement because some of the interviewing was horrific, quite honestly.” Back in the cafe in Southampton, John’s hot chocolate has gone cold. He says he misses his family “all the time” and does not have much of a social life, feeling too black to be fully welcomed by the predominantly white gay community in this part of the world, and too gay to be fully accepted by the straight people he meets. He spends most of his evenings and weekends in a rented room watching TV soaps. “Calling the memories back stresses me out,” he says, at the end of our conversation. “But the reason I do it is because if I don’t, people won’t understand what is happening, especially the people in Uganda who do not have a voice. The only way they will understand is for me to tell you about it.” As he pushes his chair neatly under the table, he says that he is plagued by two questions. “I ask myself all the time, why was I born gay? And if I was born gay, why was I born in Africa?” He leaves, letting the cafe door slide silently shut behind him, turning back to give me a wave and a smile through the window as he goes. Perhaps there will never be an answer. But for now, at least, John Bosco is free to pose the questions out loud. Getting Out will be shown on Friday 15 April at 7pm at The Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, London W2 1QJ. Tickets are free but space is limited. To reserve a seat email admin@uklgig.org.uk Gay rights Uganda Immigration and asylum Elizabeth Day guardian.co.uk
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He’s depressed, insecure and is crippled by anxiety. He’s going bald, has battled with booze and boasts of his sexual inadequacy. He’s also the creator of the hottest new show on American TV. So when did it all start to go right for Jonathan Ames? The man tucked away in a smart office in the gigantic New York film studio complex does not look like someone who has hit the big time. He wears a blue beanie hat and sips cautiously on a cup of coffee through a close-cut golden beard. His face bears an expression similar to a rabbit transfixed by the lights of an oncoming car: a mix of fear, surprise and the certainty of onrushing doom. “I
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He’s depressed, insecure and is crippled by anxiety. He’s going bald, has battled with booze and boasts of his sexual inadequacy. He’s also the creator of the hottest new show on American TV. So when did it all start to go right for Jonathan Ames? The man tucked away in a smart office in the gigantic New York film studio complex does not look like someone who has hit the big time. He wears a blue beanie hat and sips cautiously on a cup of coffee through a close-cut golden beard. His face bears an expression similar to a rabbit transfixed by the lights of an oncoming car: a mix of fear, surprise and the certainty of onrushing doom. “I
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Two goals from Neymar, the first a brilliant finish, gave Brazil a comfortable victory over a limited Scotland This afternoon we get to find out how old fashioned hustle and bustle fares against samba artistry. Just how will Ramires and Lucas Leiva cope with Charlie Adam? Got you! This match won’t be played in Rio and nor will it be played in Edinburgh. No, instead Brazil and Scotland are hot-footing it to the Emirates Stadium. Apparently Brazil’s fans aren’t too happy about their side jetting about all over Europe playing friendlies, although speaking as someone who’s sat through far too many England friendlies, the further away these games are, the better. In any case, what better venue than Arsenal’s ground than the purveyors of Joga Bonito , whatever the hell that is, and the owners of the aforementioned Charlie Adam? That said, Craig Levein has been known to take a leaf out of Fun Bobby’s book and play a revolutionary 4-6-0 formation. There are some nifty footballers playing for Scotland though. Aside from Adam, James McCarthur – not to be confused with his Wigan team-mate James McCarthy – and James Morrison are two smooth midfielders. Kenny Miller once scored a really important goal against Dani Alves. Alan Hutton is the Scottish Dani Alves. Gary Caldwell is always amusing to watch. Christophe Berra has an exotic name. For Brazil, there’s no obvious stand-out player. The old fantasy isn’t quite there; there’s no Ronaldinho, no Kaka, no Ronaldo, no Adriano, no Robinho, not that this lot are exactly a bunch of chancers. David Luiz and Maicon are only on the bench after all. The one to watch out for today is Neymar, the prodigiously talented Santos youngster, Neymar, who West Ham pretended they wanted tried to sign in the summer. Weather update: It’s sunny and hot in north London, as if Brazil needed any more of an advantage. Brazil (4-4-2): Julio Cesar; Alves, Lucio, Thiago Silva, Andre Santos; Jadson, Lucas, Ramires, Elano; Damiao, Neymar. Subs: Victor, Jefferson, Maicon, Luisao, David Luiz. Sandro, Henrique, Elias, Renato Augusto, Lucas, Jonas. Scotland (4-5-1): McGregor; Hutton, Caldwell, Berra, Crainey; Morrison, Adam, Brown, McArthur, Whittaker; Miller. Referee: England’s Howard Webb. On Twitter, TLDORC is imploring me to mention Elano. ELANO. Craig Levein hasn’t shaved. What a maverick. I toyed with the idea of letting my face hair run wild last week, but it was too itchy, so I cracked early on. The shame. Ronaldo – the Ronaldo – has just made an appearance on the pitch to a fantastic reception. He was quite good. He’s also now huge. He has no shame. What a man. These sides met in the 1998 World Cup, Brazil winning 2-1 thanks to a Tommy Boyd own goal. Oh Tommy! The teams are out. What a nice atmosphere. Both sets of players will be introduced to guest of honour, Ronaldo. The Brazil players probably know who he is. In the commentary, Kevin Gallacher is reminiscing about the game in 1998. Amy Macdonald will sing the Scottish national anthem. She’s a self-taught musician, apparently inspired by Travis. Hmmm. I never knew such a thing was possible. Can we have the Brazilian national anthem? It’s lovely. 1 min: We’re off! Scotland kick off from right to left and immediately hoof the ball out of play on the right, playing for territory. They’ve got Brazil running scared already. They keep the pressure on, and just outside the area, Miller backs into Lucio, who nudges him over. This is a great position for Adam. 2 min: The free-kick is 25 yards out, just to the right, a perfect position for Adam, who’s scored from here with that marvellous left foot of his. This, though, is not so perfect, wafted straight into the wall, and Brazil clear. 3 min: Scotland fans boo as Brazil get a feel of the ball. Really? It’s only a friendly. Someone should tell Scott Brown and Andre Santos though, who have just a minor disagreement over a throw-in. A throw-in. Maybe it’s the sun. 5 min: Adam woefully gives the ball away with a square pass across the face of his own area, straight to Neymar. The 19-year-old darts into the area menacingly, but Hutton ushers him down a blind alley and he’s eventually crowded out. Brazil win it back quickly though, and Neymar tees up Lucas for a shot from 25 yards out, but it’s hit with all the confidence of a man with 0.2 career goals. 6 min: I’m watching this on an internet feed. It’s grainy. 7 min: Scotland’s game plan is clear; make room for Adam in the centre, so he can ping the ball about at will. He’s just tried two diagonal balls in quick succession, one to the right and one to the left, but neither Andre Santos nor Dani Alves were having anything of it. Clearly, though, Scotland have identified Brazil’s full-backs as weak links. Not so sure about that, myself. 8 min: Damiao is played to the byline with a glorious reverse pass by Elano on the left, but it’s just overhit, meaning the attacker is on the stretch as he pulls his cross back into the six-yard box. Neymar is waiting, but McGregor plunges on the ball comfortably enough. 10 min: Well, it’s pretty even so far, which is another way of saying nothing’s happened yet. 11 min: This is a waste. Just for a moment, Scotland’s defence appeared to be creaking under the pressure as Jadson found space on the right, but he checked back on to his left foot and then generously looped a dire cross out for a goal-kick, Neymar’s efforts to keep it in all in vain. But well done for the youthful zest and energy. He’ll soon have that ground out of him. 12 min: Brazil are starting to settle into their groove. Neymar is clearly the biggest threat for them. It looked like he was going nowhere on the left flank, but suddenly produced a marvellous backheel to Andre Santos, whose return pass inside Hutton was judged to perfection. Neymar was away down the inside-left channel, but with Scotland’s defence all over the place, his cutback took a nick off a Scottish defender, taking it away from the waiting Brazil forwards. The ball came back to Alves on the edge of the area, but after a clever pirouette, his attempted pass through to Jadson was overhit. 15 min: Elano is allowed too much time on the right to whip a cross to the far post, where Ramires rises above Hutton to head over the bar. “Where o where can Arsenal’s Denilson be?” asks Scott Stricker. “Surely his performances warrant a Brazil call-up.” Especially on home soil. 16 min: Neymar’s a bag o’tricks at times – although he has a ridiculous haircut. It looks like a really bushy mohawk, although it also seems to resemble something from the 80s. More on this soon. 18 min: It feels like a matter of time for Brazil. Jadson suddenly finds himself clear on the right side of the area, and whacks a low shot towards goal. It’s straight at McGregor, who makes a meal of the effort, spilling it out into the six-yard box. Thankfully Neymar slips when he might have just prodded the ball home and Scotland hack it clear. 20 min: Another miss from Brazil! Whittaker is caught napping as Alves makes one of his buccaneering charges forward from right-back. Elano spots his run and lofts a delightful ball towards him, and Alves’ header into the area is put scrambled behind for a corner. Elano sends it in from the right and Damiao leaps above two – two! – Scottish defenders beautifully to power a header inches over the angle of post and bar. He really should have scored. On target, it was in. 23 min: The game is now being exclusively played in Scotland’s half, which isn’t a huge surprise. Crainey deflects Elano’s cross behind for another corner… 24 min: Scotland defend the corner better this time, the ball headed clear, but the danger’s not over. It only comes straight back to Elano, who clips another teasing cross into the six-yard box where, again, Damiao causes havoc, looping a header wide of the left post. Scotland need to deal not only with this threat in the area, but also concentrate on stopping Elano’s crosses. 25 min: Another Howard Webb special. On the edge of Scotland’s area, Neymar dinks the ball past Hutton, who clumsily whacks him on the knee. That should be a free-kick, but Webb awards nothing, which isn’t much of a surprise . The ball deflects to the left of the area for Ramires but his volley is charged down by Caldwell. 27 min: Again Whittaker switches off on the left, and Brazil take advantage. This is far too easy. Elano stands on the right touchline, no one bothering to put any pressure on him, and he’s able to lazily roll a pass behind Whittaker for the onrushing Lucas, no one going with the Liverpool midfielder. Lucas reaches the byline, and slams the ball into the six-yard box, where chaos ensues. With various team-mates to pick out, this was actually a terrible cross from Lucas, but it deflects up off the chest of the diving McGregor and on to the arm of Caldwell in front of his own goal. It’s not handball, though, as he knew nothing about it, and he does well to adjust his body and ensure he doesn’t divert the ball into his own goal. Instead it loops wide of the right post, where Damiao, trying to rescue the situation, can only touch it out for a goal-kick. 28 min: Now Alves breaks clear into the area, but his shot is charged down by Berra. He looked poised to score there. 30 min: Neymar has been off getting treatment after a clash with Scott Brown, although he’s able to continue. 33 min: I can’t remember the last time Scotland got into Brazil’s half. That said, it’s still 0-0, so they probably won’t care too much. Probably not for too much longer though. 34 min: Danger as Elano coaxes a super little pass into the path of Neymar, who shapes to shoot on the edge of the area, only to be denied by a wonderful double-challenge from Adam and Caldwell. 35 min: In the context of the match, this is a brilliant chance for Scotland. Just after the tackle on Neymar, Scotland broke forward and Morrison won a free-kick on the left, around 40 yards from goal. Adam curled it into the area and Whittaker used the pace on the ball to glance a header a few yards wide of the right-hand post. Unlucky. If it had been on target, it was one of those skimming headers which would have given the goalkeeper no chance. But it wasn’t on target, so you don’t care about all that, do you? 37 min: Now Brazil have a free-kick on the left touchline, but Neymar proves he’s no Charlie Adam, hitting the first man. “Watched the Argentina – USA friendly yesterday,” says Paul Taylor. “Argentina for most of the game passed and played like Spain/Barca—a beautiful side, with Messi to boot. Are they a new/old power in the making?” They really should be. Essentially they just need to be coached properly and lose their ability to choke when it comes to the crunch. 39 min: For all their dominance and possession, Brazil haven’t created too many clear-cut chances, which is mainly down to some thunderous tackles from the Scotland defence. On occasion they’ve been caught out, but hardly embarrassed. There have been dodgy moments, but McGregor hasn’t actually had to overly exert himself. 40 min: Brazil joga bonito their way through the middle, Neymar at the heart of the move, twisting, flicking, spinning and generally dazzling the Scottish defence with some astonishing footwork. He also produces the final pass too, scooping the ball through to Damiao, but unfortunately the flag goes up. GOAL! Brazil 1-0 Scotland (Neymar, 42 min): Well, he’s been the undoubted star of this first half and this is an absolutely brilliant goal. This kid is definitely one for the future. Scotland haven’t really coped at all well with Brazil’s marauding full-backs, and this time Andre Santos was sent haring clear on the left. No one got close to him and he was able to slide the ball into the area for Neymar, around 10 yards from goal. His first touch wasn’t great, setting him off balance, and Caldwell appeared to have the situation covered. But then out of nothing, he adjusted himself and, quick as a flash, he suddenly opened up his body and curled a sublime shot around Caldwell, using him as shield to flummox McGregor, and into the bottom right corner. Now that’s what they mean when they talk about joga bonito. 44 min: Neymar. He’ll be at Real Madrid next season. 45 min: The match is now on ITV, bizarrely. 45 min+2: The best aspect of Neymar’s goal was that Caldwell, while essentially a mere spectator, was also unwittingly the most important thing about it. Peep! Peep! Howard Webb blows for half time. Well that was enjoyable. It’s always good to find out what all the fuss was about. More on Travis. “Never mind Travis just inspiring musicians, yesterday, on the Glasgow Underground, I saw a Wedding Venue being advertised by an inspiring quote-cum-review from Fran “the Main Travis Guy” Healy!” says Ryan Dunne. “How the mighty are fallen. Or not so much. I also think Ronaldo should have tried another season, in the Scottish Fitba League. Kris Boyd, plump and beery, never bothered to run around and he still scored oodles up here.” It would be like George Best and Rodney Marsh playing for Fulham. Hair update: Actually, Neymar’s hair is a bit like Pumba’s in the Lion King . So a cross between a punk and a warthog. Good job he’s so good at football. 46 min: Happily neither side have made any changes. Brazil get us going again, and Neymar starts where he left off, hitting the bar with a magnificent shot! Once again Adam gave the ball away in his own half, allowing Neymar to run at a retreating Scotland defence and crack the ball over McGregor from 25 yards out, the ball whistling past the goalkeeper and clipping the top of the bar. This kid has got it. 47 min: What on earth is McGregor thinking of here? In possession of the ball, instead of kicking it clear, he rolls the ball to the edge of the area to McArthur, facing his own goal. He’s immediately smothered by two Brazilian midfielders, Ramires robbing him and advancing forward, clear on goal. This really should be 2-0 but amazingly Ramires also makes the wrong choice, trying to set up Neymar for a tap-in. He gets the pass all wrong, allowing McGregor to redeem himself, diving at the youngster’s feet and scooping the ball away, before charging down Elano’s follow-up. 50 min: Alves squeezes a pass into the area for Ramires, but he’s closed down well by Berra. As with the first half, even when they get the ball, Scotland are struggling to make it out of their own half. This has been a chastening experience for them. 51 min: For a moment, Miller finds himself with time and space on the edge of Brazil’s area, after Whittaker had tackled Alves, but Webb blows for a foul to Brazil, despite the Scottish midfielder getting the ball. Oh Howard. 53 min: Dear me. What a superb miss from Ramires. Once again, Brazil poured forward on the counter, the ball worked to Jadson, in space on the right side of the area. He had around 73 team-mates to pick out in the area, and decided to roll it across to Ramires. No more than eight yards out, he totally lost his head, leant back and blazed the ball miles over the bar. I’ve just seen it whizz past our office in Kings Cross. 55 min: That Ramires shot wouldn’t have looked out of place in this video. 57 min: Scotland make their first change, Barry Bannan, currently on loan at Leeds, coming on for James McArthur. 58 min: Adam concedes a foul around 40 yards from goal in a central position. Elano is standing over it. Surely not? He does have form from this range , mind you. No. He does shoot, but it’s a fairly tame effort, making its way through the wall but bouncing straight into the arms of McGregor. 60 min: Another Elano corner from the right, another Leandro Damiao header wide. Once again the marking was non-existent, once again the leap was prodigious, once again the header was off target, once again he should have scored. 61 min: This is a worrying sight for Blackpool fans – Charlie Adam has gone down clutching his knee after tackling Elano. He looks to be in some pain. 62 min: Well, he’s had some treatment and he’s up again and waiting to come back on, although Craig Levein should probably think about taking him off. 63 min: And straight away, Adam is back in the action. He finds a bit of space and looks to float a ball over the top for Miller. His pass is blocked but deflects into the path of Morrison, who chests the ball forward, forcing Ramires to come across and shank the ball out for a corner. And Adam hits the first man. What a waste. 65 min: Kris Commons comes on for Steven Whittaker. 66 min: Peter Drury needs to think before he speaks. He’s just described Bannan blocking a Lucio clearance out for a Brazil throw-in as a “lovely moment”. Really, Peter? Really? This is a decent little spell for Scotland though, not allowing Brazil to settle at all. Adam has a pop from 30 yards out but it flies well over the top. 67 min: More pressure on Lucio forces him to concede another corner on the left, much to the delight of the Scotland fans, who haven’t had much to cheer about today. Adam’s corner is headed clear by Thiago Silva though. Drury doesn’t decide to call this fairly mundane occurrence a “lovely moment” though. I wonder why. 69 min: “Any Scot getting forward becomes engulfed by Brazilians like a gazelle that’s been separated from the herd trying to escape a pride of lions,” says Linda Howard. “Although Scotland don’t really come off a gazelles, do they? Hippos? Baby hippos?” 70 min: Ramires bursts powerfully through the middle but Hutton cuts out his poor pass, which was intended for Neymar. He reminds me a bit of Nigel Reo Coker in that regard. 72 min: Alves shoots over the top. Brazil make their first change, Lucas on for Jadson. “Not Charlie Adam of course,” says Linda Howard, arguing with herself. “A bit harsh. Charlie Adam is there. Surely not a hippo.” 73 min: For a moment, it looked like Miller was about to reach a long ball over the top, but the ball agonisingly skipped off the surface and span through to Julio Cesar, which, I believe, is the first time I’ve mentioned him today. 74 min: The game is being broken up now by the changes – the former Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley manager Danny Wilson comes on for Christophe Berra. 76 min: PENALTY TO BRAZIL! And inevitably, Neymar’s won it. He got the wrong side of Adam just inside the area, and the Blackpool midfielder clipped his heels. An easy decision. GOAL! Brazil 2-0 Scotland (Neymar pen, 77 min): Coolly done. McGregor dives to his left, Neymar strokes the ball to his right. He’s been the difference today. All he needs is a proper haircut. 78 min: Charlie Adam, who’s not had the best time of it today, is replaced by Robert Snodgrass. For Brazil, Jonas is on for Leandro Damiao. 81 min: Have you seen what Neymar looks like?” quotes Mike Wilkins. Have you seen Morrissey’s ‘Kill Uncle’ ? You have your answer.” 82 min: Charlie Adam was rubbish, rather like Aaron Ramsey was for Wales yesterday. But rather than criticise this pair, it should be noted that both were playing against much better teams than the ones they represent. 83 min: Brazil make another change, Elias on for Elano. 84 min: “Don’t touch him,” parps Peter Drury, as Neymar skips into the area, somehow managing to imply the kid dived for the penalty. 85 min: The first glimpse of the new youngster, Lucas, who goes on a lovely run past a host of tired Scottish challenges. He moves it to the right for Alves, who touches it back to Lucas, whose clipped shot is deflected by Crainey, taking the sting out of the shot. Brazil cry for handball, but Webb is having none of it. 86 min: Alves stands up a cross from the right, and Elias sends a header narrowly over the bar. That’s the cue for Levein to send on Craig Mackail-Smith for Kenny Miller. This is Mackail-Smith’s international debut, much to the wonderment of the ever-innocent Peter Drury. Sandro is also on for Brazil, in place of Lucas Leiva. 89 min: Scotland win a free-kick 25 yards out, a late chance for a consolation. Bannan’s effort is decent, but straight at Cesar, who makes his first save of the afternoon. “Hair-wise, are we sure Neymar hasn’t been inspired by Travis?” asks Mark Gillies. “Bickle, I mean. Why weren’t you watching ITV from the start like the rest of us?” It was on there from the start. 90 min: Neymar, who’s achieved the rare feat of making an international friendly vaguely watchable, is replaced by Renato Augusto. A good afternoon’s work for the youngster, who will have made a few people sit up and take notice with a sparkling performance. 90 min+2: Neymar’s not the only youngster who’s caught the eye. Lucas has been very impressive since coming on, inventive and skillful in equal measure. Just here, a delightfully disguised pass set Jonas through on goal, but his finish, lashed over the top from close range, did not do the assist justice. Scotland make a final change, Don Cowie on for James Morrison. Peep! Peep! Peep! And there it is. Howard Webb brings the match to an end. That wasn’t much of a contest, to be perfectly honest. Hopefully Scotland enjoyed their day out. They’ll enjoy it even more now that’s over, safe in the knowledge they won’t have to play Neymar again any time soon. Thanks for reading and thanks for emailing. Bye. Friendlies Scotland Brazil Jacob Steinberg guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Two goals from Neymar, the first a brilliant finish, gave Brazil a comfortable victory over a limited Scotland This afternoon we get to find out how old fashioned hustle and bustle fares against samba artistry. Just how will Ramires and Lucas Leiva cope with Charlie Adam? Got you! This match won’t be played in Rio and nor will it be played in Edinburgh. No, instead Brazil and Scotland are hot-footing it to the Emirates Stadium. Apparently Brazil’s fans aren’t too happy about their side jetting about all over Europe playing friendlies, although speaking as someone who’s sat through far too many England friendlies, the further away these games are, the better. In any case, what better venue than Arsenal’s ground than the purveyors of Joga Bonito , whatever the hell that is, and the owners of the aforementioned Charlie Adam? That said, Craig Levein has been known to take a leaf out of Fun Bobby’s book and play a revolutionary 4-6-0 formation. There are some nifty footballers playing for Scotland though. Aside from Adam, James McCarthur – not to be confused with his Wigan team-mate James McCarthy – and James Morrison are two smooth midfielders. Kenny Miller once scored a really important goal against Dani Alves. Alan Hutton is the Scottish Dani Alves. Gary Caldwell is always amusing to watch. Christophe Berra has an exotic name. For Brazil, there’s no obvious stand-out player. The old fantasy isn’t quite there; there’s no Ronaldinho, no Kaka, no Ronaldo, no Adriano, no Robinho, not that this lot are exactly a bunch of chancers. David Luiz and Maicon are only on the bench after all. The one to watch out for today is Neymar, the prodigiously talented Santos youngster, Neymar, who West Ham pretended they wanted tried to sign in the summer. Weather update: It’s sunny and hot in north London, as if Brazil needed any more of an advantage. Brazil (4-4-2): Julio Cesar; Alves, Lucio, Thiago Silva, Andre Santos; Jadson, Lucas, Ramires, Elano; Damiao, Neymar. Subs: Victor, Jefferson, Maicon, Luisao, David Luiz. Sandro, Henrique, Elias, Renato Augusto, Lucas, Jonas. Scotland (4-5-1): McGregor; Hutton, Caldwell, Berra, Crainey; Morrison, Adam, Brown, McArthur, Whittaker; Miller. Referee: England’s Howard Webb. On Twitter, TLDORC is imploring me to mention Elano. ELANO. Craig Levein hasn’t shaved. What a maverick. I toyed with the idea of letting my face hair run wild last week, but it was too itchy, so I cracked early on. The shame. Ronaldo – the Ronaldo – has just made an appearance on the pitch to a fantastic reception. He was quite good. He’s also now huge. He has no shame. What a man. These sides met in the 1998 World Cup, Brazil winning 2-1 thanks to a Tommy Boyd own goal. Oh Tommy! The teams are out. What a nice atmosphere. Both sets of players will be introduced to guest of honour, Ronaldo. The Brazil players probably know who he is. In the commentary, Kevin Gallacher is reminiscing about the game in 1998. Amy Macdonald will sing the Scottish national anthem. She’s a self-taught musician, apparently inspired by Travis. Hmmm. I never knew such a thing was possible. Can we have the Brazilian national anthem? It’s lovely. 1 min: We’re off! Scotland kick off from right to left and immediately hoof the ball out of play on the right, playing for territory. They’ve got Brazil running scared already. They keep the pressure on, and just outside the area, Miller backs into Lucio, who nudges him over. This is a great position for Adam. 2 min: The free-kick is 25 yards out, just to the right, a perfect position for Adam, who’s scored from here with that marvellous left foot of his. This, though, is not so perfect, wafted straight into the wall, and Brazil clear. 3 min: Scotland fans boo as Brazil get a feel of the ball. Really? It’s only a friendly. Someone should tell Scott Brown and Andre Santos though, who have just a minor disagreement over a throw-in. A throw-in. Maybe it’s the sun. 5 min: Adam woefully gives the ball away with a square pass across the face of his own area, straight to Neymar. The 19-year-old darts into the area menacingly, but Hutton ushers him down a blind alley and he’s eventually crowded out. Brazil win it back quickly though, and Neymar tees up Lucas for a shot from 25 yards out, but it’s hit with all the confidence of a man with 0.2 career goals. 6 min: I’m watching this on an internet feed. It’s grainy. 7 min: Scotland’s game plan is clear; make room for Adam in the centre, so he can ping the ball about at will. He’s just tried two diagonal balls in quick succession, one to the right and one to the left, but neither Andre Santos nor Dani Alves were having anything of it. Clearly, though, Scotland have identified Brazil’s full-backs as weak links. Not so sure about that, myself. 8 min: Damiao is played to the byline with a glorious reverse pass by Elano on the left, but it’s just overhit, meaning the attacker is on the stretch as he pulls his cross back into the six-yard box. Neymar is waiting, but McGregor plunges on the ball comfortably enough. 10 min: Well, it’s pretty even so far, which is another way of saying nothing’s happened yet. 11 min: This is a waste. Just for a moment, Scotland’s defence appeared to be creaking under the pressure as Jadson found space on the right, but he checked back on to his left foot and then generously looped a dire cross out for a goal-kick, Neymar’s efforts to keep it in all in vain. But well done for the youthful zest and energy. He’ll soon have that ground out of him. 12 min: Brazil are starting to settle into their groove. Neymar is clearly the biggest threat for them. It looked like he was going nowhere on the left flank, but suddenly produced a marvellous backheel to Andre Santos, whose return pass inside Hutton was judged to perfection. Neymar was away down the inside-left channel, but with Scotland’s defence all over the place, his cutback took a nick off a Scottish defender, taking it away from the waiting Brazil forwards. The ball came back to Alves on the edge of the area, but after a clever pirouette, his attempted pass through to Jadson was overhit. 15 min: Elano is allowed too much time on the right to whip a cross to the far post, where Ramires rises above Hutton to head over the bar. “Where o where can Arsenal’s Denilson be?” asks Scott Stricker. “Surely his performances warrant a Brazil call-up.” Especially on home soil. 16 min: Neymar’s a bag o’tricks at times – although he has a ridiculous haircut. It looks like a really bushy mohawk, although it also seems to resemble something from the 80s. More on this soon. 18 min: It feels like a matter of time for Brazil. Jadson suddenly finds himself clear on the right side of the area, and whacks a low shot towards goal. It’s straight at McGregor, who makes a meal of the effort, spilling it out into the six-yard box. Thankfully Neymar slips when he might have just prodded the ball home and Scotland hack it clear. 20 min: Another miss from Brazil! Whittaker is caught napping as Alves makes one of his buccaneering charges forward from right-back. Elano spots his run and lofts a delightful ball towards him, and Alves’ header into the area is put scrambled behind for a corner. Elano sends it in from the right and Damiao leaps above two – two! – Scottish defenders beautifully to power a header inches over the angle of post and bar. He really should have scored. On target, it was in. 23 min: The game is now being exclusively played in Scotland’s half, which isn’t a huge surprise. Crainey deflects Elano’s cross behind for another corner… 24 min: Scotland defend the corner better this time, the ball headed clear, but the danger’s not over. It only comes straight back to Elano, who clips another teasing cross into the six-yard box where, again, Damiao causes havoc, looping a header wide of the left post. Scotland need to deal not only with this threat in the area, but also concentrate on stopping Elano’s crosses. 25 min: Another Howard Webb special. On the edge of Scotland’s area, Neymar dinks the ball past Hutton, who clumsily whacks him on the knee. That should be a free-kick, but Webb awards nothing, which isn’t much of a surprise . The ball deflects to the left of the area for Ramires but his volley is charged down by Caldwell. 27 min: Again Whittaker switches off on the left, and Brazil take advantage. This is far too easy. Elano stands on the right touchline, no one bothering to put any pressure on him, and he’s able to lazily roll a pass behind Whittaker for the onrushing Lucas, no one going with the Liverpool midfielder. Lucas reaches the byline, and slams the ball into the six-yard box, where chaos ensues. With various team-mates to pick out, this was actually a terrible cross from Lucas, but it deflects up off the chest of the diving McGregor and on to the arm of Caldwell in front of his own goal. It’s not handball, though, as he knew nothing about it, and he does well to adjust his body and ensure he doesn’t divert the ball into his own goal. Instead it loops wide of the right post, where Damiao, trying to rescue the situation, can only touch it out for a goal-kick. 28 min: Now Alves breaks clear into the area, but his shot is charged down by Berra. He looked poised to score there. 30 min: Neymar has been off getting treatment after a clash with Scott Brown, although he’s able to continue. 33 min: I can’t remember the last time Scotland got into Brazil’s half. That said, it’s still 0-0, so they probably won’t care too much. Probably not for too much longer though. 34 min: Danger as Elano coaxes a super little pass into the path of Neymar, who shapes to shoot on the edge of the area, only to be denied by a wonderful double-challenge from Adam and Caldwell. 35 min: In the context of the match, this is a brilliant chance for Scotland. Just after the tackle on Neymar, Scotland broke forward and Morrison won a free-kick on the left, around 40 yards from goal. Adam curled it into the area and Whittaker used the pace on the ball to glance a header a few yards wide of the right-hand post. Unlucky. If it had been on target, it was one of those skimming headers which would have given the goalkeeper no chance. But it wasn’t on target, so you don’t care about all that, do you? 37 min: Now Brazil have a free-kick on the left touchline, but Neymar proves he’s no Charlie Adam, hitting the first man. “Watched the Argentina – USA friendly yesterday,” says Paul Taylor. “Argentina for most of the game passed and played like Spain/Barca—a beautiful side, with Messi to boot. Are they a new/old power in the making?” They really should be. Essentially they just need to be coached properly and lose their ability to choke when it comes to the crunch. 39 min: For all their dominance and possession, Brazil haven’t created too many clear-cut chances, which is mainly down to some thunderous tackles from the Scotland defence. On occasion they’ve been caught out, but hardly embarrassed. There have been dodgy moments, but McGregor hasn’t actually had to overly exert himself. 40 min: Brazil joga bonito their way through the middle, Neymar at the heart of the move, twisting, flicking, spinning and generally dazzling the Scottish defence with some astonishing footwork. He also produces the final pass too, scooping the ball through to Damiao, but unfortunately the flag goes up. GOAL! Brazil 1-0 Scotland (Neymar, 42 min): Well, he’s been the undoubted star of this first half and this is an absolutely brilliant goal. This kid is definitely one for the future. Scotland haven’t really coped at all well with Brazil’s marauding full-backs, and this time Andre Santos was sent haring clear on the left. No one got close to him and he was able to slide the ball into the area for Neymar, around 10 yards from goal. His first touch wasn’t great, setting him off balance, and Caldwell appeared to have the situation covered. But then out of nothing, he adjusted himself and, quick as a flash, he suddenly opened up his body and curled a sublime shot around Caldwell, using him as shield to flummox McGregor, and into the bottom right corner. Now that’s what they mean when they talk about joga bonito. 44 min: Neymar. He’ll be at Real Madrid next season. 45 min: The match is now on ITV, bizarrely. 45 min+2: The best aspect of Neymar’s goal was that Caldwell, while essentially a mere spectator, was also unwittingly the most important thing about it. Peep! Peep! Howard Webb blows for half time. Well that was enjoyable. It’s always good to find out what all the fuss was about. More on Travis. “Never mind Travis just inspiring musicians, yesterday, on the Glasgow Underground, I saw a Wedding Venue being advertised by an inspiring quote-cum-review from Fran “the Main Travis Guy” Healy!” says Ryan Dunne. “How the mighty are fallen. Or not so much. I also think Ronaldo should have tried another season, in the Scottish Fitba League. Kris Boyd, plump and beery, never bothered to run around and he still scored oodles up here.” It would be like George Best and Rodney Marsh playing for Fulham. Hair update: Actually, Neymar’s hair is a bit like Pumba’s in the Lion King . So a cross between a punk and a warthog. Good job he’s so good at football. 46 min: Happily neither side have made any changes. Brazil get us going again, and Neymar starts where he left off, hitting the bar with a magnificent shot! Once again Adam gave the ball away in his own half, allowing Neymar to run at a retreating Scotland defence and crack the ball over McGregor from 25 yards out, the ball whistling past the goalkeeper and clipping the top of the bar. This kid has got it. 47 min: What on earth is McGregor thinking of here? In possession of the ball, instead of kicking it clear, he rolls the ball to the edge of the area to McArthur, facing his own goal. He’s immediately smothered by two Brazilian midfielders, Ramires robbing him and advancing forward, clear on goal. This really should be 2-0 but amazingly Ramires also makes the wrong choice, trying to set up Neymar for a tap-in. He gets the pass all wrong, allowing McGregor to redeem himself, diving at the youngster’s feet and scooping the ball away, before charging down Elano’s follow-up. 50 min: Alves squeezes a pass into the area for Ramires, but he’s closed down well by Berra. As with the first half, even when they get the ball, Scotland are struggling to make it out of their own half. This has been a chastening experience for them. 51 min: For a moment, Miller finds himself with time and space on the edge of Brazil’s area, after Whittaker had tackled Alves, but Webb blows for a foul to Brazil, despite the Scottish midfielder getting the ball. Oh Howard. 53 min: Dear me. What a superb miss from Ramires. Once again, Brazil poured forward on the counter, the ball worked to Jadson, in space on the right side of the area. He had around 73 team-mates to pick out in the area, and decided to roll it across to Ramires. No more than eight yards out, he totally lost his head, leant back and blazed the ball miles over the bar. I’ve just seen it whizz past our office in Kings Cross. 55 min: That Ramires shot wouldn’t have looked out of place in this video. 57 min: Scotland make their first change, Barry Bannan, currently on loan at Leeds, coming on for James McArthur. 58 min: Adam concedes a foul around 40 yards from goal in a central position. Elano is standing over it. Surely not? He does have form from this range , mind you. No. He does shoot, but it’s a fairly tame effort, making its way through the wall but bouncing straight into the arms of McGregor. 60 min: Another Elano corner from the right, another Leandro Damiao header wide. Once again the marking was non-existent, once again the leap was prodigious, once again the header was off target, once again he should have scored. 61 min: This is a worrying sight for Blackpool fans – Charlie Adam has gone down clutching his knee after tackling Elano. He looks to be in some pain. 62 min: Well, he’s had some treatment and he’s up again and waiting to come back on, although Craig Levein should probably think about taking him off. 63 min: And straight away, Adam is back in the action. He finds a bit of space and looks to float a ball over the top for Miller. His pass is blocked but deflects into the path of Morrison, who chests the ball forward, forcing Ramires to come across and shank the ball out for a corner. And Adam hits the first man. What a waste. 65 min: Kris Commons comes on for Steven Whittaker. 66 min: Peter Drury needs to think before he speaks. He’s just described Bannan blocking a Lucio clearance out for a Brazil throw-in as a “lovely moment”. Really, Peter? Really? This is a decent little spell for Scotland though, not allowing Brazil to settle at all. Adam has a pop from 30 yards out but it flies well over the top. 67 min: More pressure on Lucio forces him to concede another corner on the left, much to the delight of the Scotland fans, who haven’t had much to cheer about today. Adam’s corner is headed clear by Thiago Silva though. Drury doesn’t decide to call this fairly mundane occurrence a “lovely moment” though. I wonder why. 69 min: “Any Scot getting forward becomes engulfed by Brazilians like a gazelle that’s been separated from the herd trying to escape a pride of lions,” says Linda Howard. “Although Scotland don’t really come off a gazelles, do they? Hippos? Baby hippos?” 70 min: Ramires bursts powerfully through the middle but Hutton cuts out his poor pass, which was intended for Neymar. He reminds me a bit of Nigel Reo Coker in that regard. 72 min: Alves shoots over the top. Brazil make their first change, Lucas on for Jadson. “Not Charlie Adam of course,” says Linda Howard, arguing with herself. “A bit harsh. Charlie Adam is there. Surely not a hippo.” 73 min: For a moment, it looked like Miller was about to reach a long ball over the top, but the ball agonisingly skipped off the surface and span through to Julio Cesar, which, I believe, is the first time I’ve mentioned him today. 74 min: The game is being broken up now by the changes – the former Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley manager Danny Wilson comes on for Christophe Berra. 76 min: PENALTY TO BRAZIL! And inevitably, Neymar’s won it. He got the wrong side of Adam just inside the area, and the Blackpool midfielder clipped his heels. An easy decision. GOAL! Brazil 2-0 Scotland (Neymar pen, 77 min): Coolly done. McGregor dives to his left, Neymar strokes the ball to his right. He’s been the difference today. All he needs is a proper haircut. 78 min: Charlie Adam, who’s not had the best time of it today, is replaced by Robert Snodgrass. For Brazil, Jonas is on for Leandro Damiao. 81 min: Have you seen what Neymar looks like?” quotes Mike Wilkins. Have you seen Morrissey’s ‘Kill Uncle’ ? You have your answer.” 82 min: Charlie Adam was rubbish, rather like Aaron Ramsey was for Wales yesterday. But rather than criticise this pair, it should be noted that both were playing against much better teams than the ones they represent. 83 min: Brazil make another change, Elias on for Elano. 84 min: “Don’t touch him,” parps Peter Drury, as Neymar skips into the area, somehow managing to imply the kid dived for the penalty. 85 min: The first glimpse of the new youngster, Lucas, who goes on a lovely run past a host of tired Scottish challenges. He moves it to the right for Alves, who touches it back to Lucas, whose clipped shot is deflected by Crainey, taking the sting out of the shot. Brazil cry for handball, but Webb is having none of it. 86 min: Alves stands up a cross from the right, and Elias sends a header narrowly over the bar. That’s the cue for Levein to send on Craig Mackail-Smith for Kenny Miller. This is Mackail-Smith’s international debut, much to the wonderment of the ever-innocent Peter Drury. Sandro is also on for Brazil, in place of Lucas Leiva. 89 min: Scotland win a free-kick 25 yards out, a late chance for a consolation. Bannan’s effort is decent, but straight at Cesar, who makes his first save of the afternoon. “Hair-wise, are we sure Neymar hasn’t been inspired by Travis?” asks Mark Gillies. “Bickle, I mean. Why weren’t you watching ITV from the start like the rest of us?” It was on there from the start. 90 min: Neymar, who’s achieved the rare feat of making an international friendly vaguely watchable, is replaced by Renato Augusto. A good afternoon’s work for the youngster, who will have made a few people sit up and take notice with a sparkling performance. 90 min+2: Neymar’s not the only youngster who’s caught the eye. Lucas has been very impressive since coming on, inventive and skillful in equal measure. Just here, a delightfully disguised pass set Jonas through on goal, but his finish, lashed over the top from close range, did not do the assist justice. Scotland make a final change, Don Cowie on for James Morrison. Peep! Peep! Peep! And there it is. Howard Webb brings the match to an end. That wasn’t much of a contest, to be perfectly honest. Hopefully Scotland enjoyed their day out. They’ll enjoy it even more now that’s over, safe in the knowledge they won’t have to play Neymar again any time soon. Thanks for reading and thanks for emailing. Bye. Friendlies Scotland Brazil Jacob Steinberg guardian.co.uk
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Tokyo Electric Power says initial reports of levels 10m times higher than normal in parts of No 2 reactor were inaccurate Fresh doubt was cast on a Japanese firm’s handling of the Fukushima nuclear crisis after officials admitted overstating high levels of radiation that prompted an evacuation. Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said initial reports of levels 10m times higher than normal in parts of the No 2 reactor were inaccurate, although it was unable to say by how much. The initial report said the worker who made the measurement, in a pool of water in the reactor’s basement turbine building, had fled before taking a second reading. The worker’s discovery prompted another evacuation at the site, halting work to pump and store radioactive water that has built up in the turbine buildings of three of the plant’s six reactors. Tepco said later that the pool of water had been contaminated with radiation but the extremely high reading was a mistake. “The number is not credible,” said a spokesman, Takashi Kurita. “We are very sorry.” Kurita said officials were taking another sample to get accurate levels, but did not know when the results would be announced. Evidence of dangerous contamination in the No 2 reactor emerged days after three workers were exposed to high levels of radioactivity while repairing the cooling system at the No 3 reactor. Two of the men received suspected beta ray burns after stepping into water with radiation levels 10,000 times higher than normal. Reports said the workers were due to be discharged from hospital on Monday. Modest progress was made over the weekend to remove contaminated water and step up work to cool the reactors with fresh water, rather than corrosive sea water. But Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned that the emergency could continue for weeks, and possibly months. “This is a very serious accident by all standards,” Amano told the New York Times . “And it is not yet over.” One pump is being used to extract radioactive water, and two more will be taken to the site. The US military is sending barges loaded with 500,000 gallons of fresh water to nearby Onahama Bay. Two of Fukushima’s six reactors are considered safe, having achieved “cool shutdown”, but the remaining four have yet to be brought under control. Japan’s nuclear safety agency Nisa said temperature and pressure inside all six reactors had stabilised. Yukio Edano, the chief government spokesman, said the myriad problems at the power plant were no closer to being resolved. “We are preventing the situation from worsening,” he said. “We have restored power and pumped in fresh water, and we are making basic steps towards improvement. But there is still no room for complacency.” Growing concern over food safety spread to the fishing industry over the weekend when officials said sea water samples taken 20 miles off the coast of the Fukushima plant contained 1,850 times the normal level of radioactivity. Nisa said the tainted seawater posed no risk to health. “Ocean currents will disperse radiation particles and so it will be very diluted by the time it is consumed by fish and seaweed, and even more by the time they are consumed by humans,” a spokesman said. “There is no need to worry about health risks.” Japan disaster Japan Natural disasters and extreme weather Nuclear power Justin McCurry guardian.co.uk
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State-run news agency says armed gangs attacked neighbourhoods in Latakia as protests against Bashar Assad regime continue The Syrian government has said 12 people were killed in violence in the port city of Latakia, which has been rocked by protests and unrest, yesterday. The country’s state-run news agency said unknown armed gangs had attacked neighbourhoods, firing guns from rooftops. Anti-government protesters, meanwhile, accused government forces – which were deployed in Latakia yesterday – of opening fire on them. Activists said some demonstrators burned tyres, attacked businesses and set fire to an office of the ruling Ba’ath party. Dozens of people have been killed in a number of Syrian cities after protests against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime flared up more than a week ago. Ten people, including members of the security forces, residents and two members of “armed elements” died in the Latakia violence, the state-run news agency said, adding that at least two people were killed by rooftop snipers. Around 200 others, mostly members of the security forces, were reported to have been injured. Ammar Qurabi, an exile in Egypt who heads Syria’s National Organisation for Human Rights, told the Associated Press that dozens of people had protested in Latakia before attacking the Ba’ath party’s offices in the city. Demonstrators also attacked a police station and the Ba’ath party offices in the town of Tafas, six miles (10km) north of the southern border city of Daraa, the epicentre of the anti-government protests. An activist in Daraa told AP that up 1,200 people were still holding a silent sit-in the al-Omari mosque. He said the army and police were surrounding the area in a standoff with protesters, but reported no violence. “I think they will storm our sit-in very soon,” he added. The spread of violence to ethnically mixed Latakia is significant, and Assad’s government of minority Alawite Muslims blamed a prominent Sunni cleric in Qatar for inciting unrest. Bouthaina Shaaban, a presidential adviser, said Qatar-based Sheik Youssef al-Qaradawi had incited Sunnis to revolt with a sermon in Doha on Friday. Al-Qaradawi, who has millions of followers around the world and is seen as one of most influential voices in Sunni Islam, praised the Syrian uprising and criticised the regime. Shabaan said those words were responsible for the unrest in Latakia, adding: “There was nothing [in Latakia] before Qaradawi’s sermon on Friday,” she told reporters in Damascus. “Qaradawi’s words were a clear and honest invitation for sectarian strife.” Sectarian divisions are a sensitive topic in Syria, where Assad has used increased economic freedom and prosperity to win the allegiance of the prosperous Sunni Muslim merchant classes while punishing dissenters with arrest and imprisonment. Assad has placed his fellow Alawites, adherents of a mystical offshoot of Shia Islam, into most positions of power in Syria. He has built a close relationship with Iran, allowing it to extend its influence into Lebanon, where it provides money and weapons to Hezbollah militants. Syria Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Bashar Al-Assad guardian.co.uk
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Gaddafi’s forces ousted with help from international airstrikes as regime accuses coalition of trying to push Libya into civil war Libyan rebels have entered the key oil town of Ras Lanuf after routing Muammar Gaddafi’s forces in Brega with help from UN-backed airstrikes that tipped the balance away from the military. Brega, the main oil export terminal in eastern Libya, fell after a skirmish late on Saturday, with rebels continuing their push westwards to Ras Lanuf and its large oil refinery. “There is no Gaddafi army in Ras Lanuf,” said rebel fighter Walid al-Arabi, quoting rebels who had returned from the town, and that the frontline was now west of Ras Lanuf. Earlier, rebel commander Ahmed Jibril, manning a checkpoint on the western edge of Brega, said: “There are no Gaddafi forces here now, the rebels have Brega under their full control, it is free.” The two oil towns are responsible for a large chunk of Libya’s oil production, which has all but stopped since the uprising that began on 15 February and was inspired by the toppling of governments in Tunisia and Egypt. The Gaddafi regime on Saturday acknowledged the airstrikes had forced its troops to retreat and accused international forces of choosing sides. “This is the objective of the coalition now, it is not to protect civilians because now they are directly fighting against the armed forces,” Khaled Kaim, the deputy foreign minister, said in the capital, Tripoli. “They are trying to push the country to the brink of a civil war.” The fall of Ajdabiya after days of artillery duels and air bombardment delivered the Libyan revolutionaries their first significant victory over Gaddafi’s forces since the coalition air strikes began a week ago. The Libyan army sat outside town, astride the main coastal highway, blocking the rebels’ attempts to advance west toward the capital and recapture territory lost as Gaddafi found his footing after the initial shock of the uprising. On Friday, the insurgents moved rocket launchers and other weapons down the road from Benghazi, then said they fought through the night with the dug-in enemy. “We hit them with our rockets and RPGs,” said Mohammed Rahim, a former regular soldier wearing a makeshift uniform of blue camouflage jacket and green trousers. He went over to the rebels at the beginning of the uprising. “The fighting went on all night. It was a big battle. All the fighters came from Benghazi for it.” However, the destruction of tanks on the edge of the town suggested it was air strikes by coalition forces, ostensibly to protect civilians, that had finally broken the back of strong resistance by army forces before the rebels moved in. The length of time it took the insurgents to overcome the army, and the rebels’ reliance on air strikes to destroy the bulk of its armour before finally taking Ajdabiya, confirmed how dependent the poorly armed and inexperienced revolutionaries are on foreign air forces to fight their war for them. Six wrecked tanks marked the road into the town alongside artillery guns and rocket launchers mangled by the missiles from beyond the clouds. Ammunition littered the ground. Other guns were left intact and were hauled away by the rebels for the next battle. On the other side of Ajdabiya, where the road heads west out of town, were more destroyed tanks and armoured vehicles. Others sat by the roadside unscathed. Abandoned piles of weapons and ammunition, including Russian-made tank shells and rocket-propelled grenades, suggested Gaddafi’s forces had left in a hurry. The rebels swiftly arrived with transporters to remove the armour to add to an expanding revolutionary tank force that has yet to see action. Corpses of Gaddafi’s fighters lay among some of the clusters of armour, but around others there was no sign of bodies, perhaps further evidence that they had fled from their tanks in fear of the air strikes. At least 20 tanks were destroyed or abandoned along with artillery guns and rocket launchers. The strikes also appeared to have destroyed a military barracks. One of the rebel fighters, Mansour Mahdy, acknowledged that the battle would not have been won without foreign planes. “We are very grateful to the west. Everyone wants to thank France. Was it France this time? Or America? We thank them all,” he said. Days of air strikes were carried out by both countries, alongside British aircraft. The rebels took control of a mostly empty town, raising the revolutionary flag – the pre-Gaddafi-era ensign – and firing off more bullets in celebration. As word spread that the fighting was over, residents began to return in hundreds of cars . The few among the town’s 130,000 people who endured the siege were relieved but stunned. Some gave accounts of Gaddafi’s security men hunting down rebel sympathisers when they occupied the town. One man said he was looking for his brother and feared he had been executed or taken to prison in Tripoli. Other residents said they had not been badly treated and that, after the initial street battles and occasional shelling, the hardest part had been to endure a town with no electricity or water and dwindling food supplies. The local hospital closed after most of the staff fled because they feared they would be targeted by Gaddafi’s forces after some doctors publicly sided with the rebels. One elderly man did not seem to view it as liberation. He said he feared the fighting would return. He did not seem entirely trustful of the rebels either. “We never had this before, all these men with guns. This was a peaceful town. Now everyone has run away. We did not ask for this,” he said. The victory will provide a boost to morale in rebel-held territory after a string of defeats that saw the army even invading the de facto rebel capital of Benghazi until Gaddafi’s forces were destroyed by the first air strikes. But for all the celebrations, the rebels’ struggle to overcome the relatively limited defences of Ajdabiya does not bode well for their bellicose threats to march all the way to Tripoli. If Ajdabiya is the example, it offers the prospect of a protracted conflict or military stalemate, largely decided by how far the western allies are prepared to go in support of the rebels’ advance. Unless the regime cracks under other pressures, such as a sudden collapse of support for Gaddafi from within his own system, there appears little prospect of the rebels marching on Tripoli unless Britain, France and the US are prepared to offer rolling air cover for the revolutionaries that obliterates the regime’s ability to fight. The revolutionaries were able to move swiftly along the coastal road and retake Brega and Ras Lanuf, which they held at the beginning of the uprising. But moving on to the larger and more politically important town of Sirte may prove to be a challenge too far. Sirte is Gaddafi’s birthplace and he once proposed making it Libya’s capital. He is likely to reinforce the town because its fall would be a devastating blow. A rebel assault on Sirte would also raise a dilemma for Nato and the coalition leading the air strikes. The UN resolution permits military action in defence of civilians. Until now, it has been Gaddafi’s forces threatening rebel-held cities such as Benghazi, Misrata and Ajdabiya. But a rebel assault on Sirte would present the question of whether the coalition is prepared to launch air strikes to help take a town that has not risen up against Gaddafi. If not, it appears unlikely the rebels will be able to overcome the regime’s defences in Sirte on their own. Alternatively, if Gaddafi’s forces make a stand in the desert, where no civilians are threatened, that would also present the coalition forces with difficulty in justifying air strikes in support of the rebels. The revolutionary leadership had not expected Gaddafi’s forces to hold out for as long as they did at Ajdabiya, a sign that they are not entirely deterred from fighting by the air strikes. The rebels’ military spokesman, Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani, has said that promises of weapons had been made by several foreign government that he declined to name, although none had so far delivered any. But given the rebels’ poor combat record on the battlefield, where the civilian volunteers who have joined their ranks have proved to be ill-disciplined and prone to flee in chaos, there may be a reluctance to supply weapons that might fall into the hands of Gaddafi’s military. For all its insistence that it will not accept a divided Libya, the revolutionary council is increasingly adjusting to the reality that it may be facing stalemate and governing the rump of a country until Gaddafi’s regime implodes. Libya Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Chris McGreal guardian.co.uk
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