Neymar's absence from at least one more World Cup game forces Brazil coach Tite to start considering a replacement, and this time he has no shortage of choices.
As Switzerland visits Brazil on Monday in Group G, Brazil is not as reliant on Neymar as it once was, and Tite has a number of options to take Neymar's position.
Neymar suffered a right ankle injury during Brazil's 2-0 victory over Serbia on Thursday. The team doctors have not stated a timeline for his recovery or stated whether he will be able to recover at all due to ligament damage.
Tite brought nine strikers to the World Cup and, if desired, could have added a midfielder to fill Neymar's spot.
"One of the top players in the world is the subject of our discussion. It's difficult to find another player who can compete with him, Brazil midfielder Casemiro said on Saturday. But we have a lot of good players in the squad who can step in and fill his spot.
The simplest solution would be to substitute Casemiro's Real Madrid colleague Rodrygo for Neymar, leaving Raphinha, Vincius Jnior, and Richarlison to continue attacking. At Madrid, Rodrygo tends to play as an attacker, but he has practiced with Neymar in the "No. 10" position for playmaking while representing Brazil in Qatar.
Another option would be to insert another player into Neymar's position, such as Fred from Manchester United or Bruno Guimares from Newcastle, freeing up attacking midfielder Lucas Paqueta, who sat closer to Casemiro's defensive midfield position in the Serbian match.
Everton Ribeiro is another attacking midfielder at Tite's disposal, and Gabriel Jesus, Antony, Gabriel Martinelli, and Pedro are the other strikers on the team.
The tenacious Serbian defense, which repeatedly roughed him up from the start, focused primarily on Neymar. In the first round of group stage matches, he was fouled nine times during the contest, which is a World Cup record.
Casemiro stood up for Neymar when some Brazilian fans attacked him online for celebrating his injury. Raphinha has already acted in a similar manner with a contentious text re-post that said that Neymar's biggest mistake was to be born a Brazilian and that his home nation did not deserve his skill.
Casemiro said, "It's unfortunate, but there are bad people who wish bad things on other people. Neymar is very compassionate. He is not deserving of this.
With 75 goals, Neymar is second all-time in goals scored for Brazil, two behind Pelé's total for the national team. Brazil lost 7-1 to Germany in the semifinals the previous time he missed a World Cup due to a back injury sustained in the quarterfinals against Colombia in 2014.
Danilo, the right defender who also hurt his ankle against Serbia, won't be available for Tite. Veteran Daniel Alves will probably take over for Danilo, but Tite could also use central defender Éder Milito in that position.
While the other players trained on Saturday, Danilo and Neymar received physiotherapy. Antony skipped practice because he wasn't feeling well.
In the final game of its group, Brazil will play Cameroon in an effort to win its first World Cup in 20 years. If Cameroon loses to Serbia in the other group match, it can advance to the round of 16 with a victory on Monday.
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