Put Neymar in a box with a sticker that says fragile. All jokes aside, Brazil’s wonder boy was fouled an incredible 10 times in the match against Switzerland, more than any other player in the first round. All those kicks had their consequence. Neymar was walking gingerly during the contest and then had to leave a training session the day after. Reports 7 that he suffered an ankle injury, which is different from the foot injury that caused him to miss almost the entire second part of the season for PSG. At this point, it looks unlikely that the superstar will suit up for Friday’s 2pm clash with Costa Rica in Saint Petersburg.
These two have met in a World Cup before. It was in 2002 and Brazil won convincingly 5-2. This is a different Costa Rica, though. Although, not the one that reached the quarter-finals in 2014. They are still spirited, they are still difficult to penetrate, but they lack the cutting edge up front. Oscar Ramirez opted to leave Christian Bolanos and Joel Campbell on the bench against Serbia and the decision backfired, because his team was unable to create any chances. Defensively, they were as good as advertised. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was giving them problems, but he does it to everyone. As long as he didn’t affect the final outcome, it’s fine. If it weren’t for Aleksandar Kolarov’s magnificent free kick, we would be talking about two teams with one point each.
Even though Costa Rica shouldn’t be too afraid of Brazil, given what they showed in the first game, they will be cautious. Ramirez will keep utilizing the tactics that worked so wonderfully during the last World Cup and it will likely cost his team an early trip back home.
I think The Karaoke surprised everyone when they decided to gift the ball to Switzerland at the start of their last match and play with eleven men behind the ball. This is Brazil we’re talking about, after all, the most attacking-minded football nation on the planet. Well, football has changed, and those changes have arrived in Brazil as well. The Swiss were not fooled. They kept playing their game and even though they didn’t deserve anything out of a match in which they didn’t create a single threat, they came away with a point (which shouldn’t have been the case, because Zuber fouled Miranda when he scored his goal).
With the nerves of the first game gone, the Brazilians should be back to their old selves. Three points from this match are what they’re counting on and they should play like it. Paulinho and Willian were not very good versus Switzerland. Tite has many excellent players at his disposal and should not be afraid to mix it up a bit. Fernandinho and Douglas Costa are two players who deserve the opportunity to start. Douglas Costa likely will if Neymar’s out. A footballer like Roberto Firmino should also not be sitting on a bench. I don’t think playing with two strikers against Costa Rica is such a bad idea.
Put this all together and we have a match that Brazil must win and should win. Costa Rica is an uncomfortable opponent, but not nearly at the level La Seleccao is. With or without Neymar, I expect an easy victory.
Odds
Brazil 1.20
Draw 7
Costa Rica 19.00