If there was one injury that Brazil would be happy to carry into this final group game, a fixture set to decide whether they finish first, second or – whisper it quietly – third in Group E, then it would be the thigh injury sustained by coach Tite.
The Brazil head coach took an extraordinary tumble as he, his coaching staff and the Brazil substitutes emptied their dugout to celebrate Philippe Coutinho’s late winner against Costa Rica. Tite became the second coach at this World Cup to injure themselves after Gareth Southgate dislocated his shoulder while out running, but the former Corinthians coach will be fit to take his place on the bench against Serbia on Wednesday.
“We are in a situation where even the coach is injured, this is unheard of in my career,” amused team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar revealed. “He had a small muscle injury in the thigh area, but nothing serious. His main job is done with his head. He started to work well in physiotherapy, recovery, but, as much as possible, he is fine.”
So too is Neymar, the star man that was on the end of some rough treatment during the draw with Switzerland that caused him to miss training in the run-up to the Costa Rica game. Recovery has gone well, however, and after the emotional outpour of that game in St Petersburg, Neymar is now fully fit again and focused on ensuring Brazil go through as group winners.
”There was again no complaint about the foot or the ankle,“ Lasmar said of the Brazil No 10. ”He placed his hand on the left ankle a few times, due to the expected traumas of a very agile athlete – the opponents have to try to stop him. We are not worried about the [foot] problem he had surgery on. He is fully recovered.”
A win is likely to mean Brazil finish top of their group, though if the Swiss can run up the score against Costa Rica there is a chance the Seleção may fall to second place.
By kick-off that may even be the preferable scenario, with Germany looking likely to finish runners-up to Mexico in Group F but after the heart-stopping events of Monday evening when Spain and Portugal both went close to coming unstuck at the death, nobody is taking any chances.
