RIO DE JANEIRO, May 31 (Reuters) - Vinicius Jr turned the Maracana into his personal welcome-home party, scoring a dazzling early goal and setting up another to fire Brazil to a 6-2 friendly win over Panama on Sunday as the five-times world champions sharpened their claws before the World Cup.
With the 2026 World Cup less than two weeks away, Brazil were without Neymar, who is expected to miss their June 13 opener against Morocco with a calf injury, while Gabriel Magalhaes, Marquinhos and Gabriel Martinelli were also absent after Saturday's Champions League final between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain.
That left the spotlight on local boy Vinicius, back at the stadium he once called home while emerging from Flamengo's academy. He needed less than two minutes to deliver.
After Casemiro blocked Panama's attempt to play out from the back, Vinicius seized the loose ball, charged towards goal and rifled a fierce strike from the edge of the box into the top left corner.
Panama briefly spoiled the script in the 14th minute when Michael Murillo's free kick deflected off Matheus Cunha in the wall, wrongfooting Alisson and rolling inside the left post to hush the crowd.
But Vinicius restored order with a dazzling run from the left in the 39th minute, gliding past two defenders before crossing for Casemiro to head home.
Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti changed almost the entire team at halftime, leaving only centre back Leo Pereira from his starting lineup, and the replacements quickly joined the fun.
Seven minutes after the restart, Orlando Mosquera's muddled attempt to play with his feet gifted Rayan the ball, and he tapped into an empty net.
Lucas Paqueta made it 4-1 in the 60th minute with a curling effort that deflected past Mosquera, before Igor Thiago added the fifth from the spot three minutes later after the Panama goalkeeper brought him down.
Danilo added the sixth in the 81st minute with a shot from inside the box, before Carlos Harvey replied three minutes later with a thunderous strike into the top corner.
Brazil face Egypt next weekend before opening their Group C campaign against Morocco. Panama, in Group L with England, Croatia and Ghana, still play Dominican Republic and Bosnia before facing Ghana on June 16 in their World Cup debut.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas in Madrid; Editing by Stephen Coates)
