Jonas brace eases Brazil past Egypt

Valencia forward Jonas fired Brazil to a convincing 2-0 victory over Egypt in a international friendly at a packed Al Rayyan Stadium on Monday. The 27-year-old broke his international duck in style, finding the net once in each half as the five-time world champions, fielding a second-string side, totally outplayed the ailing African giants in the Qatari capital. Jonas, who last month created a sensation when he scored the second fastest UEFA Champions League goal in history by finding the net inside 10.5 seconds against Bayer Leverkusen, proved quite a handful for the Egyptians with his versatility on the pitch. Despite the absence of several stars, including Kaka, Marcelo and Neymar, Brazil were never found wanting in any department as they dominated possession throughout the match, hardly giving the Egyptians a chance at goal. After a slow start, Brazil stepped up the pace and parked themselves in Egyptian territory to keep their goalkeeper Ahmed El Shanawi on his toes as the Selecao, led by Porto star Hulk up front, looked like scoring at every opportunity. Hulk once again failed to break his scoring drought for the national side in what was his seventh match, but he set up the first one when he slipped in a pass from the edge of the box for the unmarked Jonas to tap the ball home in the 39th minute. The Egyptians conceded another goal in the 59th minute when El Shanawi failed to collect the ball cleanly on a header and Jonas made no mistake with the rebound. Although now two goals behind, newly-appointed Egypt coach Bob Bradley introduced midfielder Ahmed Hassan on 73 minutes for Hosny Abd Rabou. The appearance moved the 36-year-old on to 178 caps, a number equal only to former Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Mohammed al-Deayea. Bradley cut a forlorn figure as he watched his team get a lesson in football and the former USA handler has a task on his hands as he attempts to rebuild the team who were not long ago the kings of African football. He is due to watch several Egyptian domestic matches over the next few weeks to select a pool of players to help the country qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ after agonisingly losing out to bitter rivals Algeria last time around.