Five time World Cup winners, Brazil received a major boost ahead of its World Cup round of 16 encounter with South Korea when it was revealed that superstar forward Neymar Jr is set to make a return from injury.
Brazil coach Tite said the Paris Saint-Germain striker is slated to be back in action Monday after sitting out the team's last two group matches following ligament damage sustained in his right ankle during the opener against Serbia.
"Yes," Tite said, when asked about whether he planned to name Neymar in the starting XI. "Neymar will train today in the afternoon, and if he trains well he will play. I don't pass information that is not true."
During Brazil's 2-0 victory over Serbia, Neymar was on the receiving end of a crunching tackle from Nikola Milenković and was visibly distressed when being replaced with 10 minutes remaining in the game.
He sat out against Switzerland, and again during the team's shock defeat to Cameroon — a loss that did not affect Brazil's position at the top of Group G.
In other injury news, Brazil will have Danilo back in action, while Alex Telles and Gabriel Jesus will not feature again in the tournament due to injury.
Now 30, Neymar might be running out of chances to add a World Cup title to his career résumé. In 2014, he was injured against Colombia in the quarterfinal and did not play during the team's 7-1 semifinal defeat to Germany.