With Neymar out for at least another match, Brazil coach Tite must now start thinking about a replacement — and this time he has plenty of options.
on Thursday. He has ligament damage and team doctors haven't given a timetable for his recovery — or said if he will be able to recover at all.
The most straightforward option would be to use Casemiro's Real Madrid teammate Rodrygo in Neymar’s position, keeping Raphinha, Vinícius Júnior and Richarlison in attack. Rodrygo plays more as an attacker at Madrid, but he has trained in Neymar’s “No. 10” playmaking position while with Brazil in Qatar.
Neymar attracted most of the attention from the tough Serbian defense, which kept roughing him up from the start. He was fouled nine times during the game, the most by any player at the World Cup in the first round of matches in the group stage. Neymar is Brazil’s second-best all-time scorer with 75 goals, two behind Pelé’s record with the national team. The last time he was out at a World Cup — because of a back injury sustained in the quarterfinals against Colombia in 2014 — Brazil went on to get embarrassed by Germany 7-1 in the semifinals.
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