Brazil wil endeavour to keep their hopesbof lifti5 a record extending sixth world tittle alive when they face Croatia in the quarter-finals of the World Cup on Friday.
Brazil danced their way past South Korea in the last-16 as Neymar returned from injury,
and he showed no signs of being hampered by that ankle issue as he notched his 76th international goal.
Alex Sandro missed the match, and the group-stage defeat to Cameroon, with a hip injury,
and Tite insisted ahead of the South Korea tie that Brazil would be cautious with the left-back’s fitness.
Tite:
“He hasn’t full recovered yet and we do not intend to take any risks.”
There is a chance he recovers though in time to face Croatia, and if he does it will likely be Danilo dropping out of the side.
Alex Telles, the other left-back in the squad, has already been ruled out for the rest of the tournament, along with Gabriel Jesus.
The other key decision comes in midfield, with Tite potentially wanting a bit more security against a Croatian side so talented on the ball.
Fred could come in alongside Casemiro, with Lucas Paqueta potentially the player to miss out.
Croatia: Borna Sosa missed the win over Japan due to illness, having started all three of his side’s group-stage matches.
He should return to the starting lineup here, meaning Rangers’ Borna Barisic could have to settle for a place on the bench.
Read Also: Japan vs Croatia 1-1 (1-3 PEN) Highlights (Download Video)
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The rest of the team largely picks itself, with Josko Gvardiol, one of the centre-backs of the tournament so far, partnering Dejan Lovren, and the key trio of Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic lining up in midfield.
Who starts up front remains to be seen, with Bruno Petkovic starting against Japan but coming off after an hour having been extremely quiet.
Neither Ante Budimir or Marko Livaja were much better when they came on, the latter producing a woeful penalty in the shootout, so Zlatko Dalic could decide to place his faith in Petkovic again.
Dominik Livakovic was the star of that shootout, making three saves, and he is likely to be a busy man once again as he comes up against a Brazilian attack in fine form.
Predicted Croatia XI (4-3-3):
Livakovic;
Juranovic, Lovren, Gvardiol, Sosa;
Brozovic, Modric, Kovacic;
Kramaric, Petkovic, Perisic
Predicted Brazil XI (4-2-3-1):
Alisson;
Militao, Marquinhos, Silva, Sandro;
Casemiro, Paqueta;
Raphinha, Neymar, Vinicius;
Richarlison
