Neymar limped off after sustaining an ankle injury during Brazil’s win over Serbia, but Tite is confident he will play again in Qatar.
Tite is confident Neymar will continue playing at the World Cup for Brazil despite the ankle injury he sustained in a bruising opening contest with Serbia.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward limped off in the latter stages of the Selecao’s 2-0 win, which was sealed by Richarlison in the second half, when he was repeatedly fouled at the Lusail Stadium.
Neymar looked close to tears as he was treated on the bench before being pictured with a swollen ankle as he walked into the dressing room.
Brazil team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar confirmed the 30-year-old will undergo further tests in the next 24 to 48 hours, but Tite, who revealed Neymar continued to play for another 11 minutes after picking up the injury, is adamant he will return.
“[Neymar] felt this pain throughout the match but decided to stay on the pitch to help his team,” said the head coach.
“So it’s remarkable that he was able to bear this pain when his team was playing. After the injury, he stayed on the pitch for 11 minutes until he could no longer continue and was substituted.
“We are confident that Neymar will continue to play; he will continue to play at the World Cup.”
“I didn’t see Neymar injured – the capacity he had to overcome fooled me, I only saw it on video now. When he actually dribbled it caused the injury and in the second goal you can see when he controlled the ball he felt it.”
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