In the snow without Neymar, Brazil brace for Russia

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AFP Moscow
Last Updated : Mar 22 2018 | 9:50 AM IST

Training between mounds of snow without Neymar, Brazil may be forgiven for feeling out of their element as they prepare to face hosts Russia in their penultimate World Cup warm-up.

The most expensive football player on the planet is back home, celebrating his sister's birthday with his famous right foot recovering from surgery in a protective boot.

But things are deadly serious in Moscow, where the Selecao play on Friday at the Luzhniki Stadium in which they will hope to lift a record sixth World Cup trophy on July 15.

Coach Tite will try to make sure his superstars have learned from the unmitigated disaster of their 7-1 drubbing by Germany, whom Brazil play on Tuesday, on home soil back in 2014.

That fateful World Cup semi-final four years ago was played without the injured Neymar or suspended centre-back Thiago Silva. Now, as then, Brazil are looking vulnerable in defence and missing their 26-year-old hero.

Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar "is a different player. He is one of the top three in the world," said Tite. "But a strong team should not depend on specific names."
- Fighting for a spot -
"Neymar's absence gives the other players a chance to show themselves, to show their best side."
"I want to play for my country, play in all the matches, and I am ready to show my best at training to do it."

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First Published: Mar 22 2018 | 9:50 AM IST

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