Raphinha injury clouds Brazil's win over Haiti as inconsistency continues to limit Selecao's potential
Article excerpt
Matheus Cunha’s brace fueled a comfortable victory, but a non-contact injury to Raphinha clouds the Selecao’s World Cup outlook
Neymar return could ease Brazil injury worry
Carlo Ancelotti says key man Raphinha will be assessed after going off injured in Brazil’s win over Haiti.
A double from Matheus Cunha and Vinicius Junior strike secured Brazil their first win of the tournament.
But Ancelotti has been handed a significant injury worry with Raphinha unable to continue because of a hamstring issue.
“Raphinha will be evaluated tomorrow, right now we don’t know what happened,” Ancelotti said.
“I put Rayan in because he showed good quality, he has a different profile from Raphinha, probably, it’s small details that determine the entry of one player or another. It’s all about small details.”
A potential absence for Raphinha could be eased by the return of Brazil legend Neymar, however,
The 34-year-old has missed the opening two games of the World Cup through injury but is set to return against Scotland in their final group game.
“Yes, Neymar will train individually tomorrow,” Ancelotti said. “On Monday he will be with the team and then he will be ready for the game against Scotland.”
Reflecting on the victory, Ancelotti said: “It was what I expected, to improve the quality, make fewer mistakes, have more control at the back, defensively it was a good game.
“We improved, we will improve in the next game. We have to take advantage of this group stage to start the knockout stage well.”