Brazil have Neymar in the starting XI for their World Cup last-16 showdown with South Korea tonight.
The Paris Saint-Germain superstar was injured during the Selecao’s opening win against Serbia with damage to his ankle, missing the rest of the group stage, but head coach Tite confirmed ahead of the match that Brazil’s talisman is fit to play here.
“Neymar will train today in the afternoon and if he trains well he will play,” said Tite on Sunday. “(Alex Sandro) can’t play. Still recovering. Danilo and Neymar are back.
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“If (Neymar) plays, it’s because he is in full health and ready to start, to play from the beginning and the entire game with no limitations. My preference is always to play my best players from the start.”
He starts along with Raphinha, Vinicius Jr and Richarlison in forward areas, while Danilo gets the nod at left-back with Eder Militao on the other side of the defence.
Tite was afforded the luxury of resting players against Cameroon and returns to his strongest lineup now the knockouts are underway. Still, that came at a cost, with both Alex Telles and Gabriel Jesus ruled out of the tournament.
Brazil XI: Alisson; Danilo, Marquinhos, Silva, Militao, Casemiro, Paqueta, Raphinha, Neymar, Vinicius, Richarlison
South Korea XI: Seung-Gyu, Jin-Su, Kim Min-Jae, Woo-Young, Moon-Hwan, Young-Gwon, Hwang Inbeom, Jae-Sung, Hwang, Cho, Son
