December 04, (THEWILL) – Paulo Bento, South Korea manager, has admitted that it would be better for his team if Neymar missed their round of 16 World Cup match against Brazil, but he expects the Brazilian star will be able to participate.
As THEWILL reported, South Korea scored a thrilling victory over Portugal on match-day three, and the Taeguk Warriors did enough to leapfrog Uruguay to advance to the tournament’s first knockout phase.
Neymar, the Brazilian talisman, who suffered an ankle injury in the Selecao’s opening encounter of the competition, remains a fitness doubt as Brazil prepares for their round of 16 fixture against the Asians. Although Bento hopes Neymar is eventually cleared to play, the participation of the Paris Saint-Germain star will be decided during training on Sunday.
Discussing his availability, the South Korean coach said: “It would be hypocritical if I said that it’s better to play against Neymar than without him, but to be fair, I always prefer the best players to be on the field. If not, we hope it’s not because of injury, that’s for sure.
“It will be up to the coach, Tite, to decide whether he’s in the starting line-up if he’s fit to play, and we’ll design the best strategy to play against a great national team that is full of balance and adding more and more talented players.”
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
