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World-2022: the shadow of Pelé hangs over Brazil-South Korea

Above the match of the Brazilians, will hover the shadow of King Pelé, the only player to have won three times the most prestigious of football trophies, whose whole country follows the evolution of the state of health and who assured that he followed the Seleçao matches from his hospital bed.

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World-2022: the shadow of Pelé hangs over Brazil-South Korea

Above the match of the Brazilians, will hover the shadow of King Pelé, the only player to have won three times the most prestigious of football trophies, whose whole country follows the evolution of the state of health and who assured that he followed the Seleçao matches from his hospital bed.

"We pray for your health, majesty", posted on Instagram Neymar, who could return after missing two meetings with a sprained right ankle while coach Tite conveyed the "affection" of the whole of the team.

After the Netherlands-Argentina, poster determined on Saturday, we already know half of the qualifiers for the quarter-finals, scheduled for next Friday and Saturday: France, thanks to the 52nd goal in Blue from Giroud and a double from Mbappé, dominated Poland (3-1) and will face England, easy winner of Senegal (3-0), with Harry Kane's first goal in Qatar.

Against South Korea, the Brazilians will leave huge favourites, especially if they also register the return of Danilo behind. A reinforcement that will make fans forget the final withdrawals of Alex Telles and Gabriel Jesus.

"I hope 'Neymar' comes back," admitted striker Richarlison. "Everyone could see how much we missed him in the last two matches", "with his return, the whole team will be better", he assured.

If we except the masterpiece of the Tottenham striker in the opening against Serbia, Brazil has indeed impressed more by its defensive solidity than by its offensive animation. She only scored three goals.

Brazil would be well advised not to project themselves too quickly towards a possible semi-final against Argentina, of which South America dreams and which many are already announcing as a final before the hour.

The Koreans, who emerged from a difficult group at the expense of Uruguay and Ghana, will not present themselves as expiatory victims, as they showed by reversing a compromised situation in their convincing victory against Portugal (2 -1). "It's an aggressive and powerful team. We can't afford any mistakes," warns Richarlison.

Finishing eighth "is great but our tournament is not over," warned Son Heung-min, Richarlison's Spurs team-mate. "We have always achieved our goal, but now we need to go beyond that." Since their semi-final in 2002, South Korea have never reached the quarter-finals.

On paper, Japan seem to have an opponent more within reach. The team will fight "like a samurai", warned defender Yuto Nagatomo.

The Japanese are at the origin of the biggest surprise of the first part of this competition, the elimination of Germany which they had beaten in the opening. It doesn't matter that they got that ticket via a hotly contested goal against Spain (2-1 win), as the ball may have gone out beforehand.

"We didn't get a lot of chances" and "the game does not have to be pretty on Monday", assumes striker Ritsu Doan. "The Japanese selection this year is the strongest in the history of Japanese football. We want to beat Croatia," warned Nagatomo.

If the Japanese succeed, it may be necessary to resolve to say goodbye in major international tournaments to the man who has been one of the biggest names in football for a decade: Luka Modric. The only one with the Frenchman Karim Benzema (2022) to have undermined, in 2018, the Messi-Ronaldo monopoly on the Ballon d'Or since 2008.

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