Neymar denied victory on Barcelona debut

Barcelona's Neymar gestures as he runs during their friendly soccer match against Lechia Gdansk in Gdansk July 30, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

Barcelona's new signing Neymar was denied a win on his debut when the Brazil forward came on as a second-half substitute in a 2-2 draw in a friendly at Polish side Lechia Gdansk on Tuesday.

The standout performer in his nation's triumph at last month's Confederations Cup joined up with his new team mates on Monday and made the trip to Poland to feature in a Barca squad for the first time since joining from Santos.

He replaced Chile forward Alexis Sanchez in the 78th minute, just after World Player of the Year Lionel Messi had been substituted, and was welcomed with a series of robust challenges from the home players.

New coach Gerardo Martino did not make the trip to Poland and will make his debut on the bench when Barca host Neymar's former club in a friendly at the Nou Camp on Friday.

A minute's silence was held before the match in Gdansk after Barca announced earlier on Tuesday that their former goalkeeper Antoni Ramallets had died at the age of 89.

Ramallets made 473 appearances for the Catalan club between 1946 and 1961 and won six La Liga titles and five Spanish Cups.

He was awarded the Zamora trophy for the top goalkeeper in La Liga five times and was part of the Spain squad that finished fourth at the 1950 World Cup in Brazil.