Neymar set to feature for Brazil against Scotland

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Brazil are set to have Neymar available when they take on Scotland in their final World Cup Group C game. Neymar was included in Brazil's squad, at the expense of Chelsea's Player of the Season Joao Pedro, but the 34-year-old has been struggling due to injury. Brazil's all-time record scorer once again sat out as Brazil got up and running with a 3-0 win over Haiti, with Matheus Cunha scoring twice and Vinicius Junior also on target. But Carlo Ancelotti expects Neymar to be fit to feature when Brazil face Scotland on Wednesday. "Neymar will train individually [on Saturday]. On Monday he will be with the team and he will be ready for the game against Scotland," Ancelotti said. Vinicius has stepped up in Neymar's absence so far at this tournament. He now has six goal involvements in as many appearances in the World Cup (three goals, three assists). Among Brazilians with at least five matches at the tournament, only three others have an average of one goal contribution per match on record (since 1966): Pele (11 in eight matches), Ronaldo (19 in 19 matches) and Tostao (seven in seven matches). But Vinicius is looking forward to having Neymar back available. "Neymar is a very important player for us. We hope he can play in the next match," Vinicius said. "We are happy with his progress. Having him with the group is very important for all of us. He is my idol and has always given me a lot of support. I hope he comes back for the next game and helps us throughout the World Cup." Brazil have moved to the top of Group C following their comfortable 3-0 win over Haiti at Philadelphia Stadium. While Neymar is on the brink of a comeback, there are big concerns over Raphinha, who was subbed off in the 40th minute against Haiti due to an apparent hamstring injury. "Raphinha will be evaluated, right now we don't know what happened," said Ancelotti. Lucas Paqueta, who teed up Vinicius' goal, added: "I think we're all worried [about Raphinha]. We hope it's nothing serious." Bournemouth attacker Rayan replaced Raphinha, with Ancelotti explaining: "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." Rayan (19 years and 320 days) and Endrick (19 years and 333 days) became the sixth and seventh-youngest players to represent Brazil at a World Cup and the youngest to do so since Marco Antonio in 1970 (19 years and 128 days). In fact, Brazil fielded two players under the age of 20 in the same World Cup match for only the second time in their history, following their encounter with Wales in 1958 when Pele and Altafini both played. But their starting line-up, with an average age of 30 years and 190 days, was Brazil's oldest starting XI in a World Cup match since the 1962 final against Czechia (then Czechoslovakia), at 30 years and 216 days.

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