Brazilians touch down in Russia as Samba Boys begin bid for 6th World Cup title

Neymar and his teammates touched down in the early hours of Monday morning in the Black Sea resort, just hours after completing a 3-0 win over Austria in their final World Cup warm-up game.

The Brazilians appeared in a buoyant mood despite the early hour, posing for a team photo in their distinctive dark blue suits in front of the plane.

The fans at their airport were also greeted with a peace sign from star striker Neymar, who has made a successful comeback from injury after a three-month lay-off and appears fully for his team's tilt at glory in Russia. 

The team then made their way to the swanky Swissotel Resort Sochi Kamelia, which will be their base throughout this summer’s tournament.   

They were greeted on arrival with a traditional Russian welcome of ‘karavai’ – bread and salt – which Paulinho and Neymar stopped to sample.

Tite’s team face a World Cup group containing Switzerland, Serbia and Costa Rica, and open their campaign against the Swiss in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don on Sunday.

They head into the tournament full of confidence, having recorded another comfortable victory in their friendly against Austria on Sunday, winning 3-0 thanks to goals from Gabriel Jesus, Neymar, and Philippe Coutinho.   

Neymar’s return has been particularly welcome news for the Brazilians, with their talisman scoring in both games he has played in since coming back from a three-month injury lay-off.

The five-time World Cup winners are a revived force under Tite and have been beaten just once in 21 games under the 57-year-old.

They went some way towards avenging the traumatic 7-1 semi-final defeat against Germany in the last World Cup by defeating Die Mannschaft in a friendly back in March.

They team will be hoping their sunny Sochi base will provide the perfect backdrop as they seek to win their first World Cup since 2002.