Brazil coach Tite said striker Neymar must be fine to continue in the World Cup, despite leaving the field with a swollen ankle during Thursday’s 2-0 win against Serbia.
“We are confident that Neymar will continue to play in the World Cup. I haven’t seen Neymar’s injury. He has the ability to overcome that,” Tite told reporters, acknowledging he was initially unaware of his striker’s injury.
And Rodrigo Lasmar, the team doctor, said he must wait 24 to 48 hours before assessing the condition of Neymar’s injury.
The Paris St Germain striker, the world’s most expensive player after his record transfer of 222 million euros ($231 million) from Barcelona, played a vital role in Brazil’s victory in the opening game of the Group G in Qatar.
Neymar drove into the penalty area to pass the ball to Vinicius Junior, who passed it to Richarlison to score the opener in the second half.
He was then shown crying as he left the field with a visibly swollen ankle.
This seemed to bring to mind the back injury that prevented Neymar from participating in the 2014 World Cup hosted by his country.
A clip has circulated on social media showing Neymar leaving after the injury.
this looks bad for Neymar he can’t afford to lose him at the start of this World Cup pic.twitter.com/LfzrboQ58E
— FaO (@UTDMaestrro) November 24, 2022
Richarlison, who fired a superb back kick to score Brazil’s second goal, said he had spoken to his team-mate about his injury check.
He said: “He seems to be suffering from an ankle injury, and I told him that he needs to put a lot of ice on him to recover as soon as possible, to be 100% ready for the next game. When I get back to the hotel, I’ll go see how is”.
Richarlison has now scored nine goals in his last seven games for Brazil which gives him a lot of confidence.
He added: “Just like our manager, Tite, said I…smell goals! At half-time, I told my teammates I had to get the ball and when he reached me, I was going to score. And that’s what happened.”
He explained: “We achieved a beautiful victory and now we have six more games left to achieve our goal.”
