Neymar lifts Selecao

A superb 83rd minute free-kick from captain Neymar gave Brazil a winning start under new coach Dunga as they beat Colombia 1-0 in a fiercely contested friendly on Friday.

It will take more than a win of this nature, against a team reduced to ten men for the last 41 minutes, to put the harrowing 7-1 loss World Cup semifinal loss to Germany out of Brazil's minds but Dunga said the win was a confidence booster.

"It is always good to win, especially with the criticism after the World Cup, some of which was very strong," said Dunga who is in his second spell as Brazil coach after taking over from Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Colombia midfielder Juan Cuadrado was sent off in the 49th minute following a second yellow card for a foul on Neymar and there was no shortage of effort - or indeed rough challenges - from both teams.

New Manchester United striker Radamel Falcao made his return to the Colombian team for the first time since November as a 77th minute substitute to the delight of the large and loud Colombian contingent in the capacity 73,429 crowd at SunLife stadium.

Colombia's last outing was their infamous 2-1 defeat to Brazil in the World Cup quarterfinals - a match which saw Neymar suffer a tournament ending injury after a knee in the back from Camilo Zuniga.

Zuniga, who became a hate figure in Brazil, and Neymar captained their respective teams and in a public display of reconciliation, they hugged each other on the field shortly before kick-off.