Neymar and Brazil begin the attack on the sixth star

Neymar made his debut today in what could be the last World Cup of his career in a tough match against Serbia that will measure whether the expectations that put Brazil as good candidates to win his sixth star have a solid foundation .

Tite has a team full of numbers in all its lines, especially up front, but he never once released a promise of what his line-up would be on debut against a Serbia that is Brazil, with that he as a coach, has defeated four. years ago in the group stage of the World Cup in Russia 2-0.

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Paulinho then opened the scoring in Moscow and Thiago Silva closed it, who now and in his fourth World Cup, at the age of 38, will once again lead the ‘canarinha’ defence. Alisson is also safe, like Casemiro and Neymar, the bulwark of this team that mixes seniority and a youth led by Real Madrid players Vinicius and Rodrygo, although Tite did not reveal yesterday what is left of the starting eleven and if in 4-2 -3-1 there will be a place for Raphinha from Barcelona.

No hint for the rival

“I won’t say what the lineup is because I don’t want to give any information to my rivals,” said Tite, who held one day of training behind doors this week and the other two days he only opened . exercises for 15 minutes for the press.

“We have to find a balance between attackers and defenders,” said Tite, who only hinted at setting his strategy: “We must remember that with five substitutions we can change the pace of the game more often.”

Serbia knows the opponent it faces but is ready to fight. They have the resources to do it and even surprise, as they showed in the qualification phase by finishing first in the group and sending Portugal to the play-offs with Aleksandar Mitrovic’s 90th-minute goal.

Certainly the Fulham striker and Dusan Vlahovic, the figurehead of this team, form a formidable goalscoring duo, perfectly led by Dusan Tadic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Filip Kostic, a forward who commands respect.

“We are not afraid of anyone, not even Brazil”

“This starts zero-zero, so we can both win. We are not afraid of anyone, not even Brazil,” said a challenger, Dragan Stojkovic, the coach of Serbia. “Brazil are very lucky to have four forwards (4-2-3-1), but they also have to defend someone, right? They are one of the best teams in the world, for me they have a golden generation”.

Vlahovic and MItrovic, OK; Kostic, doubt

Serbia is ready and will have Mitrovic and Vlahovic, who have suffered physical problems in recent weeks. The Juventus striker, since October 25 due to groin pain, reappeared and scored a goal in the second half of last Friday’s friendly against Bahrain (1-5). Instead, Kostic brings muscle fatigue and can be low.