Neymar is not fully fit and will need careful handling at World Cup, says Brazil coach

Neymar is not fully fit and will need careful handling at the World Cup, according to Brazil’s coach Tite.

The Paris St-Germain forward suffered a fractured metatarsal and sprained ankle in February, and although Tite believes the player is in “good enough [condition] to play very well” in Russia, he admitted he was still not fully over the injury.

Brazil face Switzerland in their opening World Cup match in Rostov-on-Don on Sunday when Neymar is expected to start as part of a three-pronged attack with Gabriel Jesus and Willian. The Selecao are bidding to banish the memory of their humiliating 7-1 defeat to Germany on home soil in the World Cup semi-finals four years ago and Neymar - who is sporting a new bleached blonde hair cut - is considered central to their aspirations.

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But Tite sounded a note of caution as he looked ahead to Switzerland before games against Costa Rica in St-Petersburg and Serbia in Moscow.

“Neymar, we have to watch out for him, he might not be able to be fully fit but his recovery has been good,” Tite said.

“Neymar is not 100 per cent yet but he is very privileged physically, his sprinting capacity and his speed is very impressive, he has not lost that yet, but he is not 100 per cent yet. He is good enough to play very well.”

Fred, the midfielder who has agreed to join Manchester United, has been ruled out through injury but Tite has everyone else fit, with Philippe Coutinho expected to play in a midfield three with Casemiro and Paulinho at the expense of Fernandinho.

Brazil’s capitulation against Germany has raised the stakes in Russia but the team have enjoyed a transformation under Tite and Marcelo says if he had been left that traumatised by the defeat in Belo Horizonte he would have retired.

“Man, these are things that happen in football, of course I wish it were different but there’s no trauma,” the Real Madrid left-back said. “If there was a trauma I wouldn’t be playing football anymore, I’d have retired.

“So as I always do in life, I try to have a goal, a new challenge and this World Cup is a new challenge. But I don’t have any trauma. Good things I don’t let them go to my head and the bad things and faults they don’t affect me.”