Following two hard-fought victories, Brazil easily beat New Zealand 3-0 on Wednesday, finishing the first round of the Olympic soccer tournament at the top of Group C, with a total of nine points.

Brazil's scorers were Gabriel Danilo (22'), Leandro Damiao (28') and Alex Sandro (51'), in a match that saw team star Neymar da Silva give a lackluster performance, even missing an opportunity to score a fourth goal at minute 60.

Brazil now goes on to the qualification round, where it hopes to win Olympic gold, something it has never done.

Next Saturday, Brazil is set to play against the second-seeded team in Group D, which could be Japan, Honduras or Morocco.

For the match against New Zealand at Newcastle's Saint James Park, Brazilian coach Mano Menezes selected a line-up that he then changed several times throughout the game.

In a surprise move, Menezes removed goalkeeper Norberto Neto, midfielders Romulo Borges and Oscar Dos Santos, and forwards Givanildo "Hulk" Vieira and Alexandre Pato, substituting them with Danilo, Sandro, Lucas Rodrigues and Damiao, respectively.

Danilo, who substituted Romulo, scored the first goal against New Zealand goalie O'Keeffe.

Six minutes later, Damiao scored after a great pass from Marcelo to Sandro, who then passed the ball to Damiao, who easily scored the second goal.

Brazil continued to dominate the game, with Sandro scoring the third goal at minute 51.

The match's one lowpoint came at minute 76, when Sandro was expelled from the game after collecting warnings from the referee, meaning he won't be able to play in the quarter-finals.

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