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Qatar 2022Brazil and the vice-world champion on Monday’s program
The Brazilians will face South Korea (8 p.m.) in the round of 16 while Croatia will open the day against the surprising Japan (4 p.m.)
Neymar (right), who has resumed training, will he be on the pitch against South Korea on Monday evening?
AFP
Brazil, with or without Neymar, are favorites for their round of 16 match on Monday against South Korea, bets remain open for the other meeting between Japan and Croatia.
The Brazilian team superstar returned to training with the ball on Saturday after suffering an ankle injury on November 24 in Brazil’s first game against Serbia (2-0 victory). He had not played the other two group stage matches against Switzerland (1-0 victory) and against Cameroon on Friday for a surprise 1-0 defeat, which did not prevent Brazil from finishing at the top of the his group.
Two other absentees in Brazil
Another defeat that does not prevent the Seleção from remaining one of the favorites of the competition. But he will have to be wary of a South Korean team which triumphed over Portugal (2-1), drew against Uruguay (0-0) while losing to Ghana (3-2) .
Two other Brazilian players, Gabriel Jesus and Alex Telles, are definitely forfeited after being injured against Cameroon. The absence of Telles risks weakening the defense where the laterals Danilo (sprained ankle) and Alex Sandro (thigh) have also been through the infirmary in recent days.
Don’t Underestimate Japan
The Japanese have already pinned big names like Spain and Germany to their list in the group stage, even if they stumbled on the Costa Ricans.
Croatia, finalists of the previous World Cup in 2018 against France, for its part conceded two draws in the group stage against Morocco and Belgium, but with a big victory against Canada.
Veteran Luka Modric’s side have the experience on their side at this stage of the competition but should not “underestimate” their opponents, said midfielder Lovro Majer.
Table
Round of 16
Saturday December 3
16.00 Netherlands – USA 3-1
20.00 Argentina – Australia 2-1
16.00 France – Poland 3-1
20.00 England – Senegal 3-0
16.00 Japan – Croatia (match 5)
20.00 Brazil – South Korea (game 6)
16.00 Morocco – Spain (match 7)
20.00 Portugal – Suisse (match 8)
Quarter-finals
Friday, December 9
16.00 Winner match 5 – Winner match 6 (quarter 1)
20.00 Netherlands – Argentina (quarter 2)
16.00 Winner match 7 – Winner match 8 (quarter 3)
20.00 France – England (quarter 4)
Likely teams
Japan: Gonda – Tomiyasu, Yoshida (cap.), Taniguchi – J. Ito, Morita, Tanaka, Nagatomo – Kubo, Maeda, Kamada. Selectionneur: Hajime Moriyasu.
Croatia: Livakovic – Juranovic, Lovren, Gvardiol, Sosa – Brozovic, Kovacic, Modric (cap.) – Livaja, Kramaric, Perisic. Sélectionneur: Zlatko Dalic.
Brazil: Alisson – Eder Militao, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva (cap.), Danilo – Casemiro, Paqueta – Raphinha, Rodrygo (or Neymar), Vinicius – Richarlison. Selection neuro: Tite.
South Korea: Kim Seung-gyu – Kim Moon-hwan, Kim Min-jae, Kim Young-gwon, Kim Jin-su – Jung Woo-young, Hwang In-beom – Hwang Hee-chan, Lee Kang-in, Son Heung-min (cap.) – Cho Gue-sung. Sélectionneur: Paulo Bento.
(AFP)