Brazil head coach Tite says the high number of fouls on Neymar “must be stopped” after the striker picked up the injury in their group stage win over Serbia.
Neymar appeared in tears on the bench after being substituted in the 80th minute with a sprained ankle.
The 30-year-old fell victim to a heavy tackle from Nikola Milenkovic in the 2-0 victory Thursday.
“If you want to celebrate football, you have to watch out for fouls,” Tite said.
“They focus on specific players. That’s the effect. It has to be stopped.”
Since his first World Cup in 2014, Neymar has suffered 53 fouls in the competition, at least 11 more than any other player.
He suffered nine fouls against Serbia, more than any other player in their opener in Qatar.
Neymar will not feature in Brazil’s remaining group stage fixtures but Tite said he remains confident the Paris St-Germain striker will feature at the World Cup again.
“I believe that Neymar and [injured defender] Danilo will play the World Cup. I can’t talk about it [medical information]“, Tite said.
“I can say that, not only about Neymar, but also about Danilo, both of their situations have evolved, but we believe both will be available to play in the World Cup.”
TEAM NEWS
Brazil are still without Juventus defender Danilo, who also suffered an ankle injury against Serbia, as well as Paris St-Germain striker Neymar.
Swiss striker Renato Steffen remains doubtful with a muscle injury.
THE PREDICTION OF CHRIS SUTTON
Switzerland will be delighted with their victory over Cameroon, but they are a fairly average team.
I think their pace up front means they will cause Brazil more problems than Serbia, and they could score a goal here.
Brazil took a little while to get going against Serbia but they showed some of their attacking power in the end, and it will be a similar story here.
Sutton’s prediction: 2-1
MATCH FACTS
- The two previous meetings between Brazil and Switzerland in the World Cup ended in draws (2-2 in 1950, 1-1 in 2018).
- Brazil are unbeaten in their last 16 World Cup group stage matches – no team has ever gone 17 unbeaten in the group stage of the competition.
- Switzerland are looking to win their first two games of a World Cup for the first time.
- Richarlison has scored nine goals in his last seven appearances in all competitions for Brazil.
- Breel Embolo has scored in three of his last four appearances for Switzerland.
