Casemiro says the Brazil squad “often joke” about feeling sorry for opposition teams who have to come up against the likes of Manchester United colleague Antony at the World Cup.
Pre-tournament favourites Brazil have a squad dropping with talent and they opened their campaign with a 2-0 win over Serbia on Thursday thanks to a brace from Richarlison.
However, they will be without star player Neymar for their final two group games against Switzerland on Monday and Cameroon on Friday after the Paris Saint-Germain attacker suffered an ankle injury in Brazil's first game.
READ MORE: Casemiro breaks silence on Ronaldo’s United exit
Casemiro recognises that Neymar's loss is a big blow to the team but that Brazil's strength in depth still makes them a formidable force regardless.
"We could spend several days talking about Neymar, the player he is, his qualities and how important he is for our team,” Casemiro told reports ahead of Switzerland. “It's unavoidable — he is our biggest player, the difference-maker in our team.
"However, we have other players that have been performing in the same level like Vinicius Jr, Raphinha, Richarlison, Gabriel Jesus. Those of us who play in the back end often joke we feel sorry for our rivals because we can replace Raphinha for Antony, Richarlison for Gabriel Jesus.
“We have Rodrygo, Gabriel Martinelli. We have a wide array of options. It's great for us. But it does not change that Neymar is our best player."
Antony came on for the final 10 minutes against Serbia while United teammate Fred was brought on five minutes earlier. Alex Telles, currently on loan at Sevilla, is also in the squad but didn’t feature in the opening win.
READ NEXT:
