Brazil beat Germany 4-2 in an entertaining opening group game at Tokyo 2020 thanks to Richarlison’s first-half hat-trick and Paulinho’s late goal on Thursday.
Germany pulled two back in the second half but also went down to 10 men as they were defeated in Yokohama.
Richarlison , the Everton striker, scored on the rebound inside seven minutes, before heading home a second and curling in his third inside 30 minutes.
Germany put up more of a fight after the break as goals from Nadiem Amiri and Ragnar Ache made it 3-2, making it a nervous finish for Brazil.
But Bayer Leverkusen striker Paulinho finished brilliantly in injury time to make it 4-2 and put the game beyond the Germans.
Brazil XI: Santos, Dani Alves, Nino, Diego Carlos, Arana, Bruno Guimaraes, Douglas Luiz, Antony, Claudinho, Matheus Cunha, Richarlison.
Germany XI: Muller, Henrichs, Raum, Uduokhai, Pieper, Richter, Arnold, Kruse, Maier, Amiri, Stach
Other Group
Also in Group D, AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie scored in Ivory Coast’s 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia.
Earlier, Spain were held to a goalless draw by Egypt in the opening game of the men’s competition despite the inclusion of Euro 2020 young player of the tournament Pedri.
A frustrating result for Spain was compounded by an ankle injury to Real Madrid’s Dani Ceballos as they struggled to break Egypt down.
Ceballos had Spain’s best effort, hitting the post in the first half. Former West Brom defender Ahmed Hegazi played a key role in keeping Spain out.
