The Brazilian coach, Adenor Leonardo Bachi ‘Tite’, confirmed this Monday that Neymar, Vinícius Júnior and Lucas Paquetá “can play together” in the national team, with a view to a hypothetical eleven gala for the World Cup in Qatar 2022.
“I am going to be short and direct. Yes, they can play together”, declared the Canarinha coach, at the press conference prior to the match against Paraguay at the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte, for the South American qualifiers for the World Cup.
With his qualification guaranteed, Tite is using these recent matches against rivals from the region to try out new players and game systems, in order to perfect the team for Qatar 21, which starts next November 21.
This last call to face Ecuador, with whom they tied 1-1 last Thursday in Quito, and Paraguay, has been marked by the absence of Neymar, who is recovering from an injury to the ligaments of the left ankle that he suffered two months ago.
But Tite did call Vinícius Júnior, Real Madrid forward, and Lucas Paquetá, playmaker for Olympique de Lyon. Vinícius started against Ecuador, a match that, however, Paquetá missed due to suspension.
Everything indicates that the two former Flamengo players will not match against Paraguay either, since Tite intends to rest the attacker of Real Madrid so that he does not arrive so worn out for Thursday’s Copa del Rey quarterfinal match against Athletic Club de Bilbao.
In past games, Tite has brought together Neymar and Paquetá in the same eleven with excellent results, but now the Brazilian press is wondering if there is also room for Vinícius, who is having a brilliant season with Real Madrid .
Tite’s answer indicates yes, despite the fact that, on paper, Vinícius and Neymar start from the far left, leaving Paquetá the hooking position with the striker.
In this context, Tite insisted that “the great challenge” of Brazil for the World Cup in Qatar is to “conjugate” the collective with the individual , that is, to achieve “an overall structure that allows the individual quality of each player to emerge”.
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