BRAZIL

Player of Brazil Neymar during Brazil training session on match day -1 at Al Arabi SC Stadium Stadium on December 4, 2022 in Doha, Qatar.Brazil head into Monday’s World Cup last-16 tie against South Korea preoccupied by the health of the great Pele and with coach Tite wondering whether to recall the Selecao’s current number 10 Neymar after an ankle injury. Tite used his press conference prior to Friday’s final group game against Cameroon to wish Pele a speedy recovery after the all-time great was admitted to hospital in Sao Paulo during the week. The three-time World Cup winner, now aged 82, has been undergoing a “re-evaluation” of the chemotherapy he had following surgery to remove a colon tumour in September last year. Brazil fans also unfurled a banner with a get well soon message for P...

Players of Brazil during training during the Brazil Training Session at Juventus Training Center on November 16, 2022 in Turin, Italy.Neymar Jr. has the absolute pressure of Brazil on his shoulders as the Paris Saint-Germain star hopes to end the country’s 20-year FIFA World Cup drought. What bodes well for Brazil is that Neymar is playing the best football heading into the competition, so there’s no major break from when the last time the 30-year-old played significant matches to when the World Cup gets underway on Sunday. Although there are plenty of critics regarding Neymar, Brazilian football legend Cafu isn’t one of them and is ready to put his support behind him. “It’s a great opportunity to break European dominance,” Cafu told the AFP (h/t RMC Sport). “This is the perfect time fo...