World Cup column: Brazil can win this World Cup with or without Neymar
“Neymar is an exceptional player, but we trust everyone,” was the slightly unconvincing response of Brazil manager Tite when he was quizzed about how his side will cope without their captain for at least the final two group games at this World Cup after he suffered an ankle injury in their opening win against Serbia.
Trusting everyone is not a particularly difficult thing to do when you consider the players at the 61-year-old’s disposal. Manchester City’s Ederson has established himself as one of the Premier League’s best goalkeepers but is in reserve to Liverpool’s Alisson for the national team. A wealth of options at centre-back means Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhaes has been left at home. His club team-mate Gabriel Martinelli has been one of the outstanding players in the English topflight this season but was no guarantee to make the squad for this World Cup, and has played just three minutes across Brazil’s first two games.
But Neymar is probably the only bona fide global superstar in his squad. Whilst once Ronaldinho, Kaka, Ronaldo and Adriano would be jammed into the same starting line-up, producing moments of brilliance and flashes of inspiration but never achieving as much as they should have, Tite has found a balance that allows his best player to be both his expressive self and a winner at international level.
Say what you like about the current prince of Brazilian football, because the discourse surrounding Neymar is already so tiresome that surely no one can bare to hear any more about how he is either misunderstood or a fraud or a waste of great potential.
With his current club fortunes inseparable from the never-ending nouveau riche omnishambles at Paris Saint-Germain, it can be overlooked just how impressive his numbers for Brazil are in the four years between World Cups. In 122 appearances he has scored 75 goals for his country, a record that is bettered only by Pele. Despite suffering several serious injuries since Tite took charge of the national team in June 2016, he has still averaged more than a goal every other game.
The statistics cannot be argued with but it is the way in which Neymar plays football like a Brazilian straight out of the Jurgen Klinsmann handbook of tired national stereotypes and cliches that enraptures so many – and infuriates those less comfortable with allowing themselves to feel joy.
Brazil’s other forwards are capable of brilliance and undeniably exciting, but they are still a great deal more predictable than Neymar.
Monday’s uninspiring 1-0 win against Switzerland was perhaps exactly the sort of Brazilian performance that brings pleasure to the Neymar sceptics. Brazil were organised and structured, often seeming to be more concerned with what the Swiss may be capable of even when a yellow shirt was in possession, and the attacking players had mixed fortunes but all did exactly what you would expect of them.
Uncharacteristically, Richarlison was not at his nuisance-like, headache-inducing best, but he went about his hustling and harrying with a level of dedication that goes some way to explaining why he is preferred to Gabriel Jesus as a centre forward.
Vinicius Jr has become one of the most breath-taking wide players in world football over the past 18 months or so, yet it is not impossible to work out what he will attempt to do when he receives the ball on the left wing. You can only feel sympathy for the defenders who get left one-against-one with the Real Madrid forward. He will face you up, knock the ball past you and then reach it before you’ve had the time to even begin to get your legs moving in any sort of direction to stop him.
The goal he had disallowed by VAR for offside just after the hour mark was exactly the sort of opposition right-back humiliation and finish we now expect.
Raphinha is equally enjoyable to watch on the other flank, but he will almost always look to come inside on his stronger left foot before looking for a defence-skewering final pass. This was best displayed when he created the only real chance of the first half in picking out Vinicius in the Swiss penalty area to test Yann Sommer in goal.
Tite’s decision to replace his injured captain with Fred in the starting line-up – yes, the one that does a lot of enthusiastic but aimless running and mistimed tackling at a Premier League ground near you – was telling. Brazil’s manager will make exceptions for Neymar given his talent, but he has gone to Qatar to win not impress fans of his own team let alone followers of others.
Boring is often the bedfellow of success at international level. Brazil have conceded just nine times in the 32 competitive games they have played since the last World Cup and they are the only team in this current tournament to have secured their place in the next round having not let in a single goal. Alisson is yet to face a shot on target so far.
Being able to rely on your holding midfielder to spank home a thunderous drive from nowhere in the final ten minutes of games also helps and feels so utterly Brazilian, even if it is somewhat at odds with the current manager’s vision for this team.
If Neymar does recover in time, he will go straight back into the side at the first available opportunity. His return will make Brazil more like the fantastical version of a nation and its football team that exists within the collective conscience of nearly all football watchers, but whether it is truly to the benefit of Tite remains to be seen.
Read Next: https://sportsgazette.co.uk/world-cup-column-argentina-cannot-allow-messis-last-dance-to-be-a-solo-affair/
