Brazil suffer Alves blow ahead of World Cup

Talismanic right-back set to miss event after getting surgery done on right anterior cruciate ligament

SAO PAULO: Brazil's Paris St Germain right-back Dani Alves will miss the World Cup due to a knee injury which requires surgery as he faces up to six months out.

Alves limped off near the end of Tuesday's French Cup Final win over third-tier Les Herbiers. The Brazilian team doctor, Rodrigo Lasmar, flew to Paris to examine the player and decided surgery was necessary after diagnosing an injury to his right anterior cruciate ligament.

"It is clear that Daniel Alves's call up for the period of preparation, friendlies and consequently the World Cup, is impossible," said the Brazilian Football Confederation CBF.

Brazil will play warm-up matches against Croatia on June 3 and Austria seven days later, before kicking off their World Cup campaign on June 17 against Switzerland. The five-time world champions will then play Costa Rica and Serbia in Group E.

Alves, 35, is one of the squad's most experienced players with 107 caps. His absence in Russia will be a blow to Brazil coach Tite, who values not just his technical ability but also his effect on the dressing room, where he is one of the most popular players.

"I am so sad to hear this. Footballers hate missing games but I know first-hand that missing World Cup games is the worst feeling," Pele, who was forced out of the 1962 and 1966 World Cup tournaments because of injury, said on twitter.

Manchester City's Danilo and Fagner of Corinthians are among the players most likely to replace Alves when Tite announces his 23-man squad for the finals on Monday.

Brazilian star Neymar apprehensive ahead of return

Brazil's star striker Neymar admits "fear" ahead of his return for the World Cup after a lengthy layoff following surgery for a broken bone in his foot.

In an interview published Friday on former Brazil legend Zico's YouTube channel, Neymar said he is in a race against time to get mentally ready for the tournament in Russia.

"Everything's going well, thank God, but there's always this fear when you come back and I need to get rid of that fear as soon as possible to arrive at the World Cup," the 26-year-old, who has been out since the end of February, said.

The interview with Zico, a great from Brazil's 1980s team, took place last week, just before Neymar returned to France, where he is expected to restart training shortly with Paris Saint-Germain.

He still hopes to be completely rehabilitated by the June 14 start of the World Cup. Brazil's opening game is against Switzerland on June 17.

"The idea is that he can return to working on the field from next week provided that he responds favorably to tomorrow's test," Brazilian team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar told selected media, including AFP, in Paris.

Neymar said that at first his return to competitive levels was "complicated. I was always afraid of making complete movements and I'd end up compensating".

The star also lauded his PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe, who is just 19, as "the best in the world for his age".

"He's a phenomenon. I've already told (Brazil midfielder) Casemiro that he'll have to take care of him" if Brazil face France in Russia.