Neymar and Brazil should become acclimated to World Cup rivals attempting to break their attacking moves with strategic fouls, says Philippe Coutinho. The Barcelona playmaker scored a magnificent opener, however, Brazil were pegged back by Switzerland as Steven Zuber headed in from a corner to get a 1-1 draw on Sunday.
Neymar was fouled 10 times amid the game – more than any player in a World Cup tournament since 1998 – with three Switzerland players booked for cutting down the Paris Saint-Germain star. The world’s most costly player seemed, by all accounts, to be limping on a few events amid the second half, with tears in his socks obviously unmistakable, however, Coutinho said Neymar has disregarded Switzerland’s forceful strategies. “Yes, Switzerland hit us a lot… but all matches will be like this, I guess,” Coutinho told reporters.
“We’re talking about a World Cup so everybody will try to defend their game. Neymar is okay, of course. But, as you can see during the match, sometimes the opponents make turns to foul and in many passes when it’s not necessary to foul, you have it and the match gets paralysed – but that’s how it is. All matches will be like this and we have to live with that.”