FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - With one of the top players in the world sidelined, another international superstar put on a show. Neymar scored once and set up Brazils other two goals during its 3-1 victory over Portugal in a friendly match before 62,310 fans at Gillette Stadium on Tuesday night. "He has been playing very well for three, four years," Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said through a translator. "Only once in every 15 or 20 games does he not play what he knows how to do. "But normally, Neymar is this." Thiago Silva and Jo also scored for the Confederations Cup champions and 2014 World Cup hosts, who improved to 13-4-3 all time against Portugal. The result may have been different, though, had Portugal been playing with Cristiano Ronaldo, who was not in attendance as he deals with tendinitis. The Real Madrid winger and second-highest goal-scorer in Portugals history played through pain Friday, according to team doctor Henrique Jones, recording his first international hat trick in a World Cup qualifying victory over Northern Ireland. The comeback win briefly left Portugal, ranked seventh in the world, atop Group F before Russia moved back in front with a 3-1 win over Israel on Tuesday. "Naturally, hes an important player. Were talking about one of the best players in the world," Portugal coach Paulo Bento said through a translator. "Naturally, he has a great influence on the way we play. But we didnt lose this game due to his absence." Scolari wasnt too disappointed Ronaldo didnt play. "I dont miss him a lot," he said with a laugh. "He would complicate our life a lot more." It was the second game in four days for ninth-ranked Brazil, which defeated Australia 6-0 on Saturday and has lost just once this year. And Brazil came out sluggish to start. After hitting the post with a header in the 11th minute, Raul Meireles gave Portugal a 1-0 lead in the 17th when he intercepted a misplayed header by Brazil defender Maicon and slipped the ball past goalkeeper Julio Cesar. Brazil answered in the 24th minute when Neymars corner kick found the head of Silva, who rose high in the box above Portugals players and drove the ball past keeper Rui Patricio. Neymar then put Brazil in front for good in the 34th, deftly dribbling 35 yards through at least five Portugal players before sending a shot into the lower left side of the net. He later slid a pass up the sideline to Maxwell, who centred a ball that Jo easily put into the back of the net in the 49th minute. "Once we took the lead, we were more calm and then Neymar hit one, two, three players, and the opponent was on its back heels," Scolari said. Brazil defender Dani Alves (knee) and striker Hulk (thigh) did not play. Brazilian great Pele appeared in a pregame ceremony alongside former Portugal star Eusebio. Authentic Wholesale Nike Shoes .ca. Hello Kerry, After watching Nino Niederreiter clobber Alex Burrows with an open-ice hit on Wednesday, do you think he should have gotten more than the two minutes for interference. Cheap Nike Air Max Shoes China . Toronto FC hosts the three-time Italian league champions in a friendly Aug. 7 at BMO Field, a game that Roma CEO Italo Zanzi said falls within a key part of their pre-season. http://www.wholesalenikeshoeschina.com/. - Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II says the NFL has told the team it will not be docked a pick in this years draft for coach Mike Tomlins foray onto the field against Baltimore last November. Nike Shoes China . Hawkins severely sprained his left ankle while making a diving catch during training camp and went on injured reserve with a designation he could return midway through the season. He was back at practice Wednesday. Cheap Air Max Shoes . "I only want to go through this one more time," Crosby said Friday. The 24-year-old captain hasnt played since the symptoms resurfaced following a loss to Boston on Dec. 5. Doctors allowed him to return to full practice on Tuesday and while Crosby is pleased with the way his body is responding he refuses to put on his return. PINEHURST, N.C. -- In the midst of throwing away a four-shot lead, Michelle Wie never lost sight of the big picture at Pinehurst No. 2. The U.S. Womens Open rarely goes according to plan, and Saturday was no exception. Wie knows that from experience long ago, and she settled down with four important pars to wind up with a 54-hole share of the lead for the third time in her career. Wie was a teenager the other two times. Now at 24, she was one round away from capturing her first major. "Im just grateful for another opportunity," Wie said after salvaging a 2-over 72 to tie Amy Yang. "Tomorrow Im going to play as hard as I can and hope for the best." Yang, who earned a spot in the final group for the second time in three years, didnt make a par until the eighth hole in a wild round so typical of this day. Only a sloppy bogey on the final hole cost her the outright lead, though she was more than happy with a 68. They were at 2-under 208, the only players still under par. A pivotal moment for Wie came on the 12th hole. She reached 6 under for the tournament with back-to-back birdies at the turn. She made her first double bogey of the tournament with a tee shot she hooked into the pine trees on the 11th. Her next drive sailed well to the right and settled on a sandy path. Instead of punching under the trees and over the bunker to the green -- anything long is a tough up-and-down -- she pitched out to the fairway and made bogey. "U.S. Opens are tough," she said. "I feel like maybe on a different golf course, I would have taken that chance. You just dont want to be too greedy out here. Even though you make bogey, sometimes you just dont want to make a double out here. I felt like I made the right decision there." The USGA set the course up relative to what the men faced last Saturday in the U.S. Open when wire-to-wire winner Martin Kaymer had his only over-par round with a 72. It was short (6,270 yards) but tough because of the pin positions. That didnt stop Juli Inkster. The 53-year-old Hall of Famer, who has said her 35th appearance in the Womens Open will be her last, had a tournament-best 66 to get into contention. She will be in the penultimate group, four shots out of the lead, still dreaming of a third Open title that would make her by 10 years the oldest Womens Open winner. "You can think and you can dream all you want," Inkster said. "But the bottom line is youve got to come out and make the shots. And if Im tied for the lead coming up 18, then maybe Ill think about it. Ive got a long way to go. Im just going to enjoy the moment and hit a few balls and see wwhat happens.dddddddddddd" Also remaining in the hunt was Lexi Thompson, who won the first LPGA major this year in a final-round duel with Wie, and pulled within one shot of Wie with a pair of birdies early in the round. It fell apart on two holes. Thompson missed the green to the left on No. 8 -- the worst spot at Pinehurst -- and her first chip fell down the slope, leading to double bogey. On the next hole, she went long over the green and chose to take relief she really didnt need from a white line marking the TV tower. Thompson went to the drop zone, and her ball rolled back into a divot. Worst yet, she still used her putter, and it hopped high out of the divot and had no chance to reach the green. She made another double bogey, then made three straight bogeys on the back nine. She birdied the final hole for a 74 that left over 3 over. Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., finished the third round in a tie for 18th place, while Sue Kim of Langley, B.C., tumbled to 56th. Na Yeon Choi had a 71 and was in the group with Inkster at 2-over 212 along with Stephanie Meadow (69) and 18-year-old amateur Minjee Lee of Australia (72). Another shot back were So Yeon Ryu, who played her final 10 holes in 3 under for a 70, and Karrie Webb, who went the final 12 holes without a bogey for a 70. "Michelle Wie has put a few of us back into the tournament," Webb said. "Two hours ago, I didnt think I had a shot. Im pretty happy about that." Wie hit 8-iron to 8 feet for birdie on the par-3 ninth, and then hit a beautiful lag from about 80 feet for at two-putt birdie on the par-5 10th to reach 6 under. One swing changed everything. The back tee on No. 11 was used for the first time all week, playing at 444 yards. Lucy Li, the 11-year-old who missed the cut as the Womens Opens youngest qualifier in history, walked the final 12 holes with the last group. "Man, that hole is like 10 times harder from there," she said. "Well, maybe not for them." Definitely for them based on their shots. Wie hit a snap-hook that rambled through the trees and left her no shot but to go sideways and slightly back. She hit her third in a greenside bunker, blasted out about 25 feet long and nearly off the green and made double bogey. "You cant be in the tree here," Wie said. "But I felt like I grinded out there." Thats what it usually takes in the U.S. Womens Open. Wie shot 82 in final round at Cherry Hills when she was 15. She missed a playoff at Newport by two shots a year later. She is back again, a 24-year-old former teen prodigy, 18 holes away and still a long way to go. ' ' '