Injuries raise doubts about Brazil's World Cup preparations

Brazil is going out of its way to defend its World Cup preparations and show its players' injuries can't be blamed on excessive training.

Doctors will blame a soft mattress for an injury before admitting they made mistakes getting the players ready for the tournament in Russia.

Questions were raised after Renato Augusto, Danilo, Douglas Costa and Marcelo all got hit by injuries before and during the World Cup.

Augusto himself was the first to put the team's preparations under the spotlight after he said an inflammation on his left knee was caused by the amount of training he was subjected to when he reported to the national team. The midfielder hinted he was not used to this type of training load with his team in China.

And after Costa hurt a right thigh muscle in the game again Costa Rica, it was the player's wife who raised more doubts about the team's preparations, telling Brazilian newspaper Extra that her husband told her training with Brazil was too intense and he was used to lighter practice sessions with Italian club Juventus.

After Marcelo had to be replaced only 10 minutes into the match against Serbia, doctors were immediately questioned about the team's training load, but team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar said Marcelo's injury might have been caused by the type of mattress he was using at the team's hotel, not because of too much training.

The team's physical trainer, Fabio Mahseredjian, admitted the training load had to be adjusted in cases like Augusto's, but defended the squad's training regime during the World Cup.

"Injuries will happen, it's inevitable, and for the most varied reasons," he said Thursday, a day after the Brazilians advanced by beating Serbia. "It's all under control."
"I'll be back in action soon."