Neymar gives Santos first win in Libertadores Cup

In the second round of play in Group A of the 2012 Libertadores Cup, Santos beat visiting compatriot Internacional 3-1 with an incredible display of speed and skill from star Neymar. Santos, champion in 2011, began the Libertadores Cup with a loss against Bolivia's The Strongest. Hungry for the team's first win in an attempt to win back-to-back titles, Santos responded confidently with a convincing win. Neymar scored all three of his team's goals.His first came off a penalty shot in the 18th minute after Borges was pushed inside the goalie box by Indio. In the 54th minute, the 20-year-old drove fans wild when he weaved through the Internacional defense, dribbled the ball between the legs of defender Rodrigo Moledo and slipped a shot past the charging keeper Muriel. Internacional was finally able to penetrate the Santos defense in the 63rd minute when Leandro Damiao redirected a pass from Oscar and knocked it into the goal. Completing his hat-trick, Neymar demonstrated his explosive speed in the 64th minute by streaking down the middle of the field and past the Internacional defense, leaving him face-to-face with Muriel. Veering to the left, the star striker drove the ball along the top of the grass past the helpless keeper and into the back of the goal. The win improves Santos to second place of Group A with 3 points. Internacional also has 3 points, but Santos holds the advantage due to the direct win against Internacional as the team stands in third place. The Strongest leads the group with 6 points while Juan Aurich stands in fourth and last place with 0 points. Santos returns to the Libertadores Cup on March 13 on the road against Juan Aurich. Completing the group phase of the tournament, Santos will then receive Juan Aurich on March 22, travel to face Internacional on April 4 and finally receive The Strongest on April 19. Internacional's next match will be at home against group leader The Strongest on March 16. The team will then travel to play The Strongest on March 21, seek revenge against Santos while at home on April 4 and close the first phase on the road against Juan Aurich on April 19. The top two seeds of each of the eight groups advance into the round of sixteen of the continental tournament.