Brazil vs South Korea: can Neymar’s return buoy Seleção despite Tite’s selection headache?
Brazil face South Korea on Monday evening and are boosted by the return of their talisman Neymar.
The PSG forward returned to training on Friday following an ankle injury and his coach, Tite, confirmed that he will feature against the Taegeuk Warriors.
Brazil fielded a much-changed side in their final group game, a surprising 1-0 defeat to Cameroon. This was a luxury they could afford given that qualification had already been secured.
While Gabriel Martinelli came out of the match with plenty of credit in the bank, Brazil’s forward line failed to truly impress for the second game in a row.
They are expected to announce a lineup more akin to their opening two games with Richarlison up front alongside Vinicius Jnr. and Raphinha on either wing.
Alisson will return in goal but question marks remain at full-back where Alex Sandro and Danilo remain injury doubts. With Alex Telles picking up a tournament-ending injury against Cameroon, Tite may be forced to improvise.
In their other Group G game without Neymar, a narrow victory against Switzerland, they needed a late Casemiro goal to secure three points.
While his supporting cast are intelligent off-the-ball runners, Neymar’s unique ability to run at pace with the ball at his feet from deep central positions will be a welcome creative injection to his side’s frontline.
This has been exacerbated by Brazil’s options from the bench taking a hit in the shape of a Gabriel Jesus knee injury. The Arsenal forward will also miss the rest of the tournament which means if Richarlison misfires or picks up an injury Flamengo’s Pedro is the next no. 9 in the pecking order.
While the 25-year-old possesses skill that belies his target man physique, he represents an unknown entity at this level with only three caps to his name so far.
South Korea meanwhile enter the tie with the wind in their sails. While few fancy their chances agains the five-time-champions, they will thrive on their status as a side with nothing to lose.
They looked all but eliminated after 90 minutes of their clash against Portugal before their own talisman Son Heung-min found Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Hwang Hee-chan behind Portugal lines.
Hwang, on as a substitute, buried his chance as Ghana prevented a third Uruguay goal. This denied La Celeste qualification on goal difference, sending South Korea through. Hwang will be hoping for a starting berth as recompense pending an assessment of his hamstring, a twinge within which has limited his World Cup minutes so far.
If Japan get past Croatia in the day’s 3pm kick-off an historic all-Asian quarter-final could be on the cards. Only two Asian teams (North Korea in 1966 and South Korea in 2002) have ever reached the last eight of a World Cup before.
To do so South Korea will not only need to cause a serious upset but reverse their recent fortunes. They played Brazil as recently as June and an early goal from Richarlison followed by two from Neymar helped them to a resounding 5-1 victory.
Hwang aside, Paulo Bento enjoys a largely fully-fit squad to choose from.
He has demonstrated a willingness to shuffle the pack throughout this tournament and with the weight of expectation lying very much on Brazil’s shoulders, another role of the dice may well be on the cards.
