Fluminense striker Fred made his first appearance since the World Cup with an outing from the bench as his side beat Goias 2-0 to move up to second in the Brasileirao championship, four points off the leadrers Cruzeiro.
Former Brazil forward Fred, 30, endured a difficult summer after coming in for fierce criticisms of his international displays and a solitary goal in the entire World Cup tournament.
However, he played the final 30 minutes of a third straight Fluminense win and his boss Cristovao Borges said after the game: “Fred was ok. He moved and managed to appear well.”
“I did not start with him as I wanted to put him on in the second half, with the opponent tiring.”
Since joining Flu in 2009, Fred has scored a very healthy 62 goals in 96 league appearances, including the title-clinching goal of their victorious 2012 campaign.
In his Brazil career, he managed a respectable 18 goals in 39 caps, but was often labelled as lazy for his contributions around the pitch.
