Brazil boss Tite says that he was pleasantly surprised by Neymar’s speedy return to full fitness during the World Cup. The PSG forward broke his metatarsal in February and only just returned to action in time for the competition.
Neymar started the tournament slowly, but gradually grew into it prior to Brazil’s exit at the quarter- final stage to Belgium. But the Seleção coach was impressed by how quickly Neymar was able to show full physical strength.
"We've seen there was a clear evolution coming to his top performance," the coach said. "Before the match when he was selected man of the match [against Mexico] we got together and I said, 'Neymar, you are 100 per cent'.
"Because you can realise when the mind is thinking and the body is responding. The dribbling, the feinting, the speed. He came back better than I imagined. Physically he's also very well gifted, he's very fast. In terms of high-intensity actions, no-one in the World Cup comes close."
