After coming off the bench to make an important impact against Costa Rica, Brazil ace Douglas Costa could reportedly be ruled out with an injury for the rest of the World Cup.
The Juventus ace came on at half-time with Brazil needing to find a breakthrough, as after being held by Switzerland in their opening game of the tournament, they were also being frustrated by Costa Rica.
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Costa provided a different threat after the break with his direct running, pace and movement off the ball, and he showcased exactly why he is a crucial part of Tite’s plans as he bagged a late assist for Neymar too.
In turn, he may well have been in line to start the crunch clash with Serbia this week, a game which Brazil need a positive result in to be sure of going through to the knockout stage.
As noted by ANSA though, they’ve been hit with a potential major setback as it’s been claimed that Costa could be ruled out for the rest of the tournament with a thigh injury.
The report suggests that the Brazilian international could be out for 20 days, which puts his participation in the latter stages of the World Cup, provided that the Selecao get that far, in jeopardy.
If confirmed, that will be a major blow for Tite, and he will need much more from Chelsea star Willian in that case, as he has struggled to make a positive impact in the opening two games of their World Cup campaign.
Brazil were forced to field their third-choice right back in the win over Costa Rica too, with Fagner starting in place of the injured Danilo, while Dani Alves was ruled out before the tournament with an injury as the problems are seemingly mounting for Tite.