Selecao out to make Pele proud as Neymar return nears
Brazil's World Cup last-16 clash with South Korea promises to be an emotional occasion for all associated with the Selecao.
Brazil's World Cup last-16 clash with South Korea promises to be an emotional occasion for all associated with the Selecao.
The game comes after reports emerged over the weekend indicating legendary former striker Pele is now receiving palliative care in hospital after his body stopped responding to cancer treatment.
Pele helped Brazil to three World Cup successes and is revered by many as the greatest to ever play the sport.
The 82-year-old, whose condition is stable, remains an iconic figure for Brazilian football, and the players will undoubtedly have him at the front of their minds as they take on South Korea at Stadium 974.
Talisman Neymar will presumably be even more desperate to feature in the match, with tributes to Pele expected from both players and fans.
The Paris Saint-Germain star injured his ankle in Brazil's opener in Qatar and sat out the rest of the group phase.
Brazil has always been hopeful Neymar will be able to feature in the knockout phase and Tite confirmed the 30-year-old will play as long as he comes through a final training session.
Captain Thiago Silva previously suggested Neymar had a good chance of featuring against Korea.
"It depends a lot on training," he said. "It seems that there will be a test a little more on the field, I don't know if he will put on his boots.
"Only from then on can we pass on something more concrete to you, but until then I cannot pass on ahead of the doctor on this situation.
"[The injury] must be tested, to see how the ankle is, if it will hold up or not, if it will be in a little pain. He will have pain, that's part of it, I've had this type of injury.
"However, if everything goes well as planned, the hope is that he will be available. But I leave that to Tite and the doctor."
Brazil is going to be without Gabriel Jesus and Alex Telles, both of whom have been ruled out for the rest of the tournament through injury.
Nevertheless, it will be a firm favourite having progressed from each of its previous seven last-16 matches at the World Cup, last getting eliminated at this stage in 1990 against Argentina.
South Korea has not played a knockout game at the tournament since 2010 with its only only win (excluding penalties) after the group stage came as co-host in 2002 when it stunned Italy in the round of 16.
But coach Tite insists Brazil – which beat South Korea 5-1 in June – will not be complacent.
"Brazil lost to Cameroon; Portugal lost to South Korea; France lost to Tunisia; Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia. I think the results speak for themselves," he said.
"I think these are very strong, very tough matches. I don't think we can think any prior situation makes it easy.
"We need to be very careful. We were very careful with the match against Cameroon. We were. We can't say it's easier and we have an advantage. We can't say that."
By the same token, Hwang Hee-chan – scorer of South Korea's decisive goal in the dramatic 2-1 win over Portugal that took it through at the expense of Uruguay – is adamant the Taeguk Warriors are not in the last 16 just to make up the numbers.
"Just because we play Brazil, it won't mean we will be just happy to be there in the knockouts," he said.
"Our objective is to win and give our people something to cheer about. We're not just happy to be here. We want to play well and win for our fans."