Brazil forward Neymar has rated his teammate Casemiro as the best defensive midfielder in the world. Neymar took to Twitter to shower praise on the Manchester United star after he scored a ripper against Switzerland to help Brazil win 1-0 and seal their Round-of-16 berth.
Casemiro’s thunderbolt landed in the left corner of the goal in the 83rd minute on Monday as Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer had no chance. The midfielder took one touch shot at the goal and timed his attempt to perfection.
Injured Neymar, who is currently nursing an ankle injury, tweeted, “Casemiro has been the best defensive midfielder in the world for a long time.”
Brazil’s head coach Tite also agreed with Neymar’s statement and feels Casemiro is the best in the business as a defensive midfielder.
Tite said after the game, “As a habit, I always respect opinions and don’t comment on them, but I will allow myself to do that today. I agree [with Neymar].”
“This is a player who works as a central player and when a game appears, he’s the surprise element who appears from the back,” Tite said.
Tite was also asked if the team missed the services of Neymar against Switzerland despite the win.
“[Without Neymar] the system will be maintained. [How was the] First match without Neymar? You chose Casemiro as Man of the Match.
“Neymar has a different skill set. He is a player in a magical moment and can dribble past one another — he has that skill. Other players are getting to Neymar’s level and I hope they get there. So we miss Neymar, we do miss him, he has a big creative power, he’s very offensive, we miss him. But there other athletes we saw at the beginning who took the opportunity.”
Meanwhile, Brazil lost to Belgium in the 2018 World Cup. Casemiro feels the team is better equipped this time and has the ability to go all the way.
“Four years have gone by, there are new players,” Casemiro said. “This year we have a wider range of options, we have more players to choose from. Without changing the team, we can change the way we play. If we substitute players we have more options. The options are much greater than those in 2018.
“There are tons of younger players that are being able to handle themselves. The defenders are more experienced and this was another game where we conceded no goals. That all starts in front with Richarlison, but the options are much greater this time around than 2018.”
