"We have so many good players." Considering he was not boasting or exaggerating but merely being candid it may seems something of a surprise that Casemiro's international manager, Tite, his teammate Marquinhos and Tite's assistant César Sampaio devoted most of a 40-minute media briefing yesterday to discussing an injured forward.
No prizes for guessing that man is Neymar, with question after question concentrating on how Brazil will cope without him against Switzerland today and how the striker with 75 goals in 122 games for his country could be replaced.
Tite used a lot of words to, engagingly and eruditely, avoid answering both inquiries. "We've already decided the starting players but we will only be communicating that right before the game," said the manager, who could offer no timeframe on when Neymar may return from an ankle ligament injury but expressed confidence the player's World Cup was not over. "Football's about context and sometimes we have to be strategic," he said. "We have to think outside the box but we're very confident we have the right replacement."
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 28, 2022-Ausgabe von The Guardian.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 28, 2022-Ausgabe von The Guardian.
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