Switzerland Give Neymar Rough Treatment to Frustrate Brazil

The PSG attacker was unable to make much of an impact as he got little space to create something at the Rostov Arena.

The Paris Saint-Germain star was a doubt for the tournament in Russia not too long ago after fracturing his metatarsal in the Ligue 1 encounter with Marseille back in February and only recently returned to full training, Goal.com reported.

Neymar's injury problems did not stop him from scoring both in his return to action against Croatia as well as against Austria, but Brazil boss Tite admitted during his pre-match news conference that the 26-year-old was not in peak condition yet.

"Neymar is not 100 per cent," he stated at the Rostov Arena. "But he is very privileged physically, his sprinting capacity and his speed is really impressive, he hasn't lost that. He's not 100 per cent yet, but he's good enough to play very well."

Both parts of Tite's message had clearly registered with the Swiss as they did everything within their power to keep the PSG man quiet.

Valon Behrami needed a mere four minutes for his first foul on Neymar, only to repeat the trick 10 minutes later, much to the annoyance of the Brazil No.10.

Referee Cesar Ramos took action at the half-hour mark when Stephan Lichtsteiner brought down Neymar on the edge of the box, but Switzerland continued to bully the former Barcelona man at every opportunity, with Fabian Schar and Behrami both going into the match official's book too.

Vladimir Petkovic's men's focus on Neymar - who was fouled 10 times across 96 minutes - allowed his team-mates a bit of extra space and Philippe Coutinho took the opportunity to show what he is capable of in what was his World Cup debut.

The ex-Liverpool man was involved in Brazil's first moment of danger when he set up Neymar down the left, with Paulinho eventually scuffing a shot wide from a close range.

Coutinho then decided to take matters into his own hand midway through the first half. The 26-year-old picked up a loose ball 25 yards out and beat goalkeeper Yann Sommer with a stunning curler into the top corner.

His attacking influence was not Coutinho's only contribution on the evening, however, as he happily tracked back when needed, often finding himself in a deeper position than Barcelona team-mate Paulinho. 

But the 26-year-old's strike eventually was not enough as some unconvincing defending from Miranda allowed Steven Zuber to level the scoring early in the second half after a Ricardo Rodriguez corner.

Coutinho came close to restoring Brazil's lead when he chested down a long ball from the left before blasting a volley toward the far post, but he was unfortunate to see his attempt sail wide.

Brazil thus had to settle for a 1-1 draw in their opening game, with Sommer pulling off a superb save late on to save Switzerland, as they got their campaign off to an underwhelming start, much like fellow favourites Spain, Argentina and Germany.

Costa Rica now await on matchday two, before they lock horns with Serbia in their final game of the group stages on June 27 as they continue the chase for their sixth-ever world title.