Neymar scores, bawls after win over Costa Rica

“We fought until the end and we were rewarded”.

“If I was the referee I would not go back but I respect that because it is subject to interpretation”, the Brazil manager said.

“His joy of being back on the pitch is contagious”.

Moments later, Neymar was booked for petulantly punching the ball in front of Kuipers as Costa Rica players sprawled out on the turf time wasting.

Cameras then captured the exchange between the Brazilian star and the official. “It’s the same team that is going to start that stated against Switzerland”, said Tite. “He has the responsibility, the pressure”.

Despite dominating possession, Brazil showed rare leaks in its steady defense, with Costa Rica threatening on a couple of early chances of their own.

Brazil drew 1-1 with Switzerland in their opening bout.

With Real Madrid keeper Keylor Navas in inspired form, Neymar and Co were frustrated for the most parts of the 90 minutes. When I gave the ball back, he cursed me a lot. We wouldn’t even have a national team.

The first goal scored by either team is going to set this match alive and I think we are going to see plenty of goals being scored during the course of the match, so make sure you are watching it later on this evening! “It became very hard for us”.

When Navas was beaten, Brazil were thwarted by other means as Jesus thumped a header against the crossbar, with an apparently simple Coutinho follow-up deflected around the post by a Johnny Acosta block. But he was also in theatrical mode against Costa Rica, tumbling over dramatically when touched.

Iceland, roared on by thousands of fans from the tiny country, kept pushing and were awarded a penalty in the 80th minute when referee Matt Conger used the Video Assisted Referee system to confirm that striker Alfred Finnbogason had been fouled by Tyronne Ebuehi. Once again, he just waved them away.

Tite was unfazed about handing him the armband for a game that he described as a “decisive match that we need to win to continue in the tournament”. “Brazil doesn’t need any help”.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference in the St. Petersburg stadium on the eve of the game, Brazilian manager Tite confirmed his starting XI will be the same as the one that faced the Swiss.

Brazil produced a gripping late show to start the day on Friday, as they finally broke down Costa Rica to pick up their first win of the tournament.

There were instances where Willian failed to be quick on his feet which caused Brazil’s dreaded counter-attack to fall short in the first half.

With his 56th global goal, Neymar is now one ahead of Romario – which could be a useful omen for Brazil. Here is how both teams will line up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup clash.

Neymar is third on Brazil’s all-time scorers’ list, behind Pele (77) and Ronaldo (62).