Brazil’s coach, Tite, today described South Korean striker Son Heung-min as a “perfect” player, and did not rule out Neymar for the friendly that both national teams will play this Thursday despite the fact that he withdrew with ailments from a previous training.
Neymar set off the Canarinha’s alarms by limping off and between gestures of pain from the work session held this Wednesday at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, on the eve of the match they will play against the South Korean team on this same stage.
However, from the Brazilian technical team it was explained that it is a blow with inflammation for which the Paris Saint-Germain star will remain under observation until Thursday before evaluating whether he will be available for the friendly.
“Everyone wants to play, but the players each recover at a different pace,” said Tite when asked in a telematic press conference about Neymar’s condition and about the late arrival, the day before, of the players who played the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool.
Casemiro, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Goes, Fabinho and Alisson Becker were the last to join the concentration in South Korea of the Brazilian team, who after their friendly in Seoul will travel to Japan to face the Japanese team next Monday in another preparatory match ahead of the World Cup in Qatar.
Tite affirmed that the Brazilian team that is seen in Qatar “will depend on how these matches are prepared”, and said that his players “have to show their talent on the field and do things as the coaching staff asks of them”.
He also pointed out that he cares about “something more than the result” in these preparatory matches, and stressed that South Korea is “a well-prepared team” and that it will also be in Qatar.
Tite praised in particular the quality of the brand new Golden Boot of the Premier and captain of the Asian team, Son Heung-min, whom he described as a “perfect player” for his “technique, resistance and mental strength”.
“It is no coincidence that he won the golden boot this year. It is something very difficult in professional football and one that he has very deservedly achieved,” he said of the Tottenham player.
