By Fernando Kallas and Philip O’Connor
DOHA (Reuters) – Fred and Eder Militao replaced the injured Neymar and Danilo in the Brazil team for their World Cup Group G match against Switzerland on Monday.
Neymar and Danilo have been ruled out of the group stage by ankle injuries suffered in the team’s opening 2-0 win over Serbia.
Brazil coach Tite went for power over finesse, choosing to pair Fred with his Manchester United team mate Casemiro to strengthen midfield, pushing Paqueta forward into a playmaking role, instead of bringing Rodrygo in up-front alongside Vinicius, Richarlison and Raphinha.
Real Madrid’s versatile central defender Militao will replace Danilo at right back.
Swiss coach Murat Yasin made one change to the team that started the 1-0 win over Cameroon with Fabian Rieder replacing Xherdan Shaqiri.
Brazil:
Alisson; Eder Militao, Thiago Silva (c), Marquinhos, Alex Sandro; Casemiro, Fred, Lucas Paqueta; Vinicius Jr., Raphinha, Richarlison.
Switzerland:
Yann Sommer, Silvan Widmer, Nico Elvedi, Manuel Akanji, Breel Embolo, Remo Freuler, Granit Xhaka, Ricardo Rodriguez, Djibril Sow, Ruben Vargas, Fabian Rieder.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas, editing by Ed Osmond)
