Brazil’s Tite hopeful on Neymar return against South Korea

DOHA – Neymar is in line to return from injury for Brazil’s last-16 World Cup clash with South Korea on Monday but will need to prove his fitness first, coach Tite said.

The 30-year-old superstar forward suffered an ankle injury in Brazil’s opening win in Qatar over Serbia and then missed the last two group matches.

“Regarding Neymar, he’s going to train this afternoon and, if he’s OK, he will play tomorrow,” said Tite on Sunday.

It is not the news South Korea’s Portuguese coach Paulo Bento was hoping for.

“We would be hypocrites if we said we prefer playing against Neymar,” said Bento.

“That would be a lie, we prefer him not to play but, honestly speaking, I always prefer the best players to play.”

Bento complained about the quick turnaround between the last group-stage match on Friday and Monday’s last-16 clash.

Unlike Brazil, who rested most of their first-choice players having already qualified after two games, South Korea had to fight to the last minute of their 2-1 win over Portugal to make it into the knockout stage.

“After the physical tiredness from the previous games, there is also the emotional fatigue after the Portugal game,” said Bento. “I decided to let the players rest yesterday and we only trained this morning. Of course, that’s a burden for teams. It’s an additional burden compared to Brazil... who changed the line-up for their last game: they did something we couldn’t do in the last game.”

Meanwhile, Tite had harsh criticism for those who accused him of taking an unnecessary risk with Arsenal forward Gabriel Jesus, who was injured against Cameroon and will miss the rest of the tournament.

Some local media said that Jesus arrived at the World Cup carrying a knock which Tite knew about when picking him from the start to face the African side on Friday. Brazil had already qualified for the knockout rounds and lost 1-0.

Said Tite: “At no time do we play for victory at the risk of a player. The liars, the haters who keep giving hate should go and do something else and stop giving fake news.”

“Arsenal have a great medical department, we have a great medical department. This never happened and I would never let it happen.”

World No. 28 South Korea are the second lowest-ranked side to make the knockout stage and Bento’s side have recent experience of how chastening an experience it can be to take on Brazil.

The teams met in a friendly in Seoul in June and Brazil romped to a 5-1 victory, with Neymar scoring two penalties.

“They are an aggressive and strong team. We can’t afford to make mistakes,” warned Richarlison, who was also on target in that friendly clash.

South Korea might face a mammoth task but there remains a quiet confidence in their ranks.

Said captain Son Heung-min: “Going into the round of 16 was our goal and now we have higher goals and we will do our best to achieve those goals. 

“No-one knows the world of football, especially now, and since we have a chance to beat Brazil, we will do our best and prepare our best game.”

His heir apparent Lee Kang-in shared that sentiment, telling Yonhap news agency: “Obviously, Brazil will be tough to handle.

“But I think we will have a chance to win if we execute everything we’ve prepared for. We’re ready to do our best on the field. I hope our fans will continue to be behind us”

Should the Taegeuk Warriors pull off another upset, a potential quarter-final clash with rivals Japan could be on the horizon, should they see off Croatia on Monday.

The Asian sides have never met at the World Cup.

Attacking midfielder Lee said he has been in contact with his Japanese former Mallorca teammate Takefusa Kubo, who called the fellow 21-year-old South Korean “one of my best friends in football”.

“I reached out to him after seeing the score in the morning, and he said, ‘You guys should win today and let’s meet in the quarter-finals’,” Lee said. “This didn’t come from me. I didn’t say those words.” AFP, REUTERS