Neymar is set to be fit to play in Brazil’s World Cup last-16 tie against South Korea.
Neymar and defender Danilo both suffered ankle injuries in the Selecao’s opening 2-0 win over Serbia, which ruled them out of the 1-0 win over Switzerland and the shock loss to Cameroon on Friday night.
The 30-year-old was seen running before, during and after the game with Cameroon before returning to training with his team once again on Saturday.
And, barring any further setbacks between now and Monday’s match, coach Tite confirmed his star man will play.
“Regarding Neymar he’s going to practice this afternoon and if he is OK, he will play tomorrow,” Tite said in his pre-match press conference on Sunday.
“I don’t share any information that is not true. My answer is he will practice this afternoon, if everything goes well, he will play.”
The news is a boost to Brazil after Gabriel Jesus and Alex Telles were ruled out for the remainder of the tournament a day previous.
Starting full-backs Danilo and Alex Sandro have been sidelined by injuries suffered earlier in the competition and their availability for the Korea game remains unclear.
If neither can play, centre-back Marquinhos could perhaps switch to the right and 39-year-old Dani Alves, who became the oldest Brazilian to start a World Cup match against Cameroon, could be tried out on the left.
If Tite opts to use Real Madrid centre back Eder Militao as a full-back, as he did in the absence of Danilo against Switzerland, Brazil would have no other defenders on the bench.
