Chelsea defender Thiago Silva on Neymar: “We felt the absence of Neymar today . . . He is an indispensable player” | OneFootball

Brazil’s talent is great that you expect them to dominate even after a player like Neymar gets sidelined, but instead it took a moment of genius to take down Switzerland. Brazil’s Casemiro scored a brilliant goal in the 83rd minute to push Brazil to a 1-0 victory. Brazil’s second win in the World Cup did qualify them for the knockout stage, but the contrast between the first and second match was vast.

Overall Brazil looked less cohesive than in the first match against Serbia. The easy thing to point to was the high profile injured player not available for the match, Neymar. When beIN Sports asked about Neymar, Brazilian defender, and former PSG man, Thiago Silva said, “We felt the absence of Neymar today. Even as a strong collective, he will be missed by the entire team . . . He is an indispensable player on the team.”

While Thiago Silva did not make the connection to Neymar’s absence to how the team played it was obviously a factor. it was reported by AP that Neymar stayed at the team hotel to receive treatment for his ankle, but he also was not feeling well. Teammate Vinícius Júnior stated,  “He was sad he couldn’t come to the game . . . He wasn’t feeling well. Not only because of the foot, but also because he had a little bit of a fever. We are hoping that he can recover as soon as possible.”

Besides Neymar being ruled out until at least after the group stage there has been no official timeline for his return. Even though Brazil has by far one of the most talented rosters in the World Cup, you can not replace a player like Neymar. Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar and Mbappé account for too much. Is Brazil still capable of winning the World Cup without Neymar, yes. Is Brazil the same team without him, no.