Neymar starts in Brazil’s last-16 ties at the 2022 World Cup against South Korea tonight at 7pm UK time at Stadium 974 in Doha.
The 30-year-old Brazilian star was back training on Sunday after recovering from an ankle injury ahead of Korea’s first World Cup knockout match since 2010, when Asia’s Red Devil lost 1-2 to Uruguay.
When asked on Sunday whether Neymar would be fit to return, Brazil head coach Tite said to BBC: “Yes, Neymar will train today in the afternoon and if he trains well he will play.”
On the other side of changing rooms, South Korea will hope for Kim Min-jae, one of their key players, to return as he missed the win against Portugal.
South Korea head coach Paulo Bento questioned the rush to knockout stages and said to the pre-match press conference: “In my opinion, I don’t think it’s fair to play games after just 72 hours.”
Although Brazil played as well on Friday, they were able to rotate their team because they had advanced into knockouts after the first two games.
This is the first-ever competitive meeting between the two sides, but they have already met seven times.
Brazil: Alisson, Danilo, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Eder Militao, Casemiro, Lucas Paqueta, Neymar, Richarlison, Raphinha, Vinicius Jr.
South Korea: Kim Seunggyu, Kim Jinsu, Kim Minjae, Kim Moonhwan, Kim Younggwon, Jung Wooyoung, Hwang Inbeom, Lee Jaesung, Hwang Heechan, Son Heungmin, Cho Guesung.
