Brazil s Coutinho has only remote chance of facing Japan

Paris Nov 7 (IANS) Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho has only a remote chance of playing for Brazil in their international friendly against Japan on Friday according to team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar.

Coutinho has missed Liverpool s past two English Premier League matches with an adductor injury but partly trained with Brazil s squad here on Monday reports Xinhua news agency.

Though he is in doubt for Friday s match in Lille the 25-year-old is likely to be ready for Brazil s clash against England at London s Wembley stadium four days later.

"He probably won t be fit enough to play against Japan " Lasmar told reporters on Monday.

"If he does he will probably come off the bench to play a few minutes at the end. It s only a remote chance. Our focus is to have him back for the second match (against England) " he added.

Meanwhile Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar trained freely after recovering from a thigh problem that kept him out of his club s 5-0 thrashing of Angers in Ligue 1 on Saturday.

The friendlies will be Brazil s first fixtures since they completed their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign last month by finishing top of the South American zone s CONMEBOL group.

--IANS
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