"We felt the absence of Neymar today" - Thiago Silva and Vinicius Jr. hail the impact of PSG superstar and provide update on his fitness
Brazil stars Thiago Silva and Vinicius Junior have hailed Neymar's impact on the side while also providing an update on his fitness.
The PSG ace went off injured in their opening 2022 FIFA World Cup game win over Serbia and thereby missed their narrow victory over Switzerland on Monday.
Casemiro scored in the 83rd minute to hand the Canaries all three points but it was far from an impressive performance from Tite's squad.
Brazil have booked a place in the round of 16 after their 1-0 win over Switzerland.
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Silva, the Brazil skipper, admitted that his team felt Neymar's absence and claimed that he's 'indispensable' to the side.
Speaking to beIN Sports, he said (via Get French Football News):
“We felt the absence of Neymar today. Even as a strong collective, he will be missed by the entire team... He is an indispensable player on the team.”
Brazil suffered without the former Barcelona star's creativity in attack against the Swiss, laboring their way forward for large swathes of the match.
Vinicius Junior, who had a goal disallowed in the 64th minute, further added that Neymar was disappointed after being unable to make it to the match to watch them play.
He said:
"He was sad he couldn’t come to the game... He wasn’t feeling well. Not only because of the foot, but also because he had a little bit of a fever. We are hoping that he can recover as soon as possible.”
The Associated Press reported that the Paris Saint-Germain star stayed at the team hotel to receive treatment for his ankle injury. He's also been ruled out of Brazil's final group fixture against Cameroon on Friday, although there's no official timeline for his return yet.
The swelling on Neymar's injury is going down faster than expected and he's walking again normally.
🚨 The swelling on Neymar's injury is going down faster than expected and he's walking again normally.
There is optimism he could return before the group stage finishes.
(Source: @UOL) https://t.co/qffpftmoeQ
The Seleccao are safely through to the Round of 16 after winning both their matches so far.
Brazil struggling to hit their best without Neymar
Even without Neymar, Brazil have managed to grind out wins in both their games at the 2022 FIFA World Cup so far, although their performances haven't been the best.
The Seleccao were in full control against Serbia but struggled to make their dominance count for large portions of the game.
Against the Swiss, Tite's side looked ponderous until the hour mark, when things started to open up a little and Vinicius Junior almost had them in front.
Even though Brazil have succeeded in their objective of reaching the last 16, they haven't looked like champion material yet.