Brazil floor Bosnia thanks to late own goal

New style

Brazil's Marcelo celebrates after scoring during their friendly soccer match against Bosnia in St. Gallen, Feb 28, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

In 18 months in charge Menezes has drastically changed Brazil's playing style, moving them away from the physical, counter-attacking game favored by predecessor Dunga to a more patient, passing approach.

However, it is still not clear whether his players are up to the task especially with the added pressure of knowing the next World Cup will be on home soil.

Brazil, who had won their previous five games, went ahead with a simple goal as Dani Alves threaded a pass through a flat defence into the path of Marcelo and the Real Madrid player beat keeper Asmir Begovic with a low shot into the far corner.

Luiz, criticized for his performance in Chelsea's 3-1 defeat by Napoli in the Champions League last week, then lost the ball to Edin Dzeko who fed Ibisevic and his shot slipped through Julio Cesar's hands.

"We kept making mistakes with our final pass, we funnelled our moves down the middle and that left us vulnerable to the counter-attack," said Menezes.

Miralem Pjanic was denied by Julio Cesar just before halftime and Zvjezdan Misimovic blasted over after Dzeko, a constant threat, had pulled the ball back.

The second half was a similar story although Brazil improved markedly when Paulo Henrique Ganso replaced Ronaldinho.

Neymar had their best effort when he twisted inside his marker and just failed to curl his shot around Begovic.

Dzeko had several good openings and could have grabbed a late winner for Bosnia when he burst through the defence but fired over.

Brazil's late goal came as a huge relief for Menezes who has seen his rebuilding efforts severely criticised.

A sixth win in a row could lift some of the pressure on the coach which reached its peak following Brazil's quarter-final elimination to Paraguay at last year's Copa America.

A Bosnian supporter lights torches during a friendly soccer match against Brazil in St. Gallen, Feb 28, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]