Manchester United midfielder Casemiro has thrown his weight behind Neymar making Brazil’s 2026 World Cup squad, suggesting the forward is willing to sacrifice his starting spot to chase the trophy.
With the Seleção’s final roster set to be announced on May 18, the veteran midfielder believes the Santos star still has a vital role to play under Carlo Ancelotti.
Neymar doesn’t need to be star attraction for Brazil
Constant injury troubles have prevented Neymar from featuring for the national team since 2023, well before Carlo Ancelotti took over as Seleção boss.
Despite constantly missing out on calls due to fitness issues, Ancelotti has not ruled out including the 34-year-old in the squad for the summer competition.
It is unlikely the forward would be drafted into the starting XI due to his long absence, but midfielder Casemiro, one of the team’s senior figures, has insisted that his co-star does not need to be the star of the show.
In my opinion, Neymar never had that kind of problem. He even has the age and experience to be one of the captains of the national team,” Casemiro told ESPN.
“He never cared about that in the national team. He always said: ‘give the ball to me, let’s have fun and play football. And, man, that’s me. I want to have fun on the field, I want to enjoy myself on the field.’ And Neymar has always demonstrated that.
“Neymar never had that role of wanting to be tough. Neymar has always been a guy who wanted to have fun on the field. And I think that if you talk to him, in my opinion, about his desire to play in a World Cup, and you propose, if Ancelotti proposes [a bench role] to him, I feel he’ll wish to go to the nationwide group, as a result of he needs to [play in the World Cup]. Then he will get there and he exhibits it on the sector and exhibits it in coaching.”
‘No higher coach’ than Ancelotti for Santos star
Holding the reins throughout this transitional interval is Ancelotti, a supervisor famend for his potential to handle huge egos and sophisticated squad rotations.
United midfielder Casemiro has been vocal in his help for the Italian tactician, insisting that there isn’t any one higher geared up to deal with a participant of Neymar’s stature and health profile.
Ancelotti’s historical past of success with veteran stars at Actual Madrid and AC Milan supplies a blueprint for a way Brazil may make the most of Neymar successfully.
Casemiro went on to again his supervisor, “I feel you’d must have a dialog [with Neymar] and also you’d come and discuss: look, you are not going to play as many video games, however look, in a sure recreation, you are going to be essential for these 20 minutes, half-hour. Or you are going to play that recreation. I feel it is only a dialog.
“So, I repeat, it isn’t what Ancelotti will suppose. So I feel that bombshell is Ancelotti’s, and there is no higher coach on the earth, with extra expertise on the earth, to deal with a state of affairs like that. So, I am certain that the choice he makes will at all times be in the very best curiosity of the group.”
Neymar doesn’t must show something, says Casemiro
Casemiro admitted that fixed discussions about Neymar’s place within the Brazil nationwide group have change into repetitive however insisted he has by no means averted the subject.
“It’s annoying as a result of everybody talks about [Neymar in the World Cup], everybody asks, and everybody solutions. Particularly me. I’m truthfully a buddy of Neymar’s — I’ve identified him since he was 12. However in my view it’s very clear: Neymar doesn’t must show something to anybody,” Casemiro mentioned.
“All of it is determined by whether or not he can get as shut as doable to his greatest bodily situation. As a result of when it comes to expertise, there isn’t any want to debate what an important participant he’s.”
San Lorenzo v Santos – Copa CONMEBOL Sudamericana 2026 (Getty Photos Sport)
Health stays the ultimate hurdle
Whereas Neymar’s expertise is undisputed, his bodily situation stays the first concern for the Brazilian teaching workers.
Having not too long ago returned to motion with Santos, the ahead remains to be striving to search out his peak rhythm.
Casemiro admitted that whereas the talk might be “annoying,” the fact of the state of affairs is tied solely as to whether Neymar’s physique can stand up to the rigours of a World Cup after a number of severe accidents.
“The massive query right here is the bodily half. I perceive the teaching workers is analyzing this and Ancelotti has made it clear in interviews. I’m an enormous fan of Neymar and he would not must show something to anybody,” Casemiro mentioned.
“If he’s bodily effectively, then there isn’t any dialogue. He has to go. He’s the star, the man of the group. However it’s as much as him to be bodily match.”
