Brazil head coach Tite has confirmed that Neymar is fit to play in their World Cup 2022 Round of 16 clash against South Korea on Monday.
The 30-year-old missed the Selecao’s last two Group G games against Switzerland and Cameroon after sustaining an ankle injury in their opening win against Serbia.
There were initial concerns that Neymar will miss the rest of the tournament in Qatar due to ankle ligament injury discovered during scans.
Neymar, who has also been suffering from a fever, and Danilo have both returned to first-team training, and both Selecao players are set to face South Korea at Stadium 974.
Tite was accompanied by captain Thiago Silva at a pre-match press conference on Sunday, and when asked if teammate Neymar would be able to play, the defender looked to his manager, who simply said, “Yes!”
Despite Tite’s optimism, the 61-year-old manager later stated that the attacker’s condition would be evaluated further and that he will play on Monday if he passes training without incident.
“Regarding Neymar, he’s going to train this afternoon and if he is OK, he will play tomorrow,” Tite added as per The Mirror.
“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.”
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Neymar, who had injury issues at the last two World Cup, is just two goals behind Pele (77) in Brazil’s all-time scoring rankings, while Danilo is just three appearances away from earning 50 caps for the South American heavyweights.
Brazil, widely regarded as the favourite to win a record-extending sixth World Cup in Qatar, will play either Japan or Croatia in the quarter-finals if they defeat South Korea in the last 16.
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