FIFA World Cup 2018, Brazil Vs Costa Rica: Both are looking for first win

Second-ranked Brazil, who are one of the favourites to clinch FIFA World Cup title this year, will be up against 23rd-ranked Costa Rica in their second match in Group E here at the Saint Petersburg Stadium on Friday.

Brazil will head into the clash on the back of a disappointing 1-1 draw against Switzerland in the opening match of the ongoing 21st edition of the tournament.

Costa Rica, on the other hand, couldn't repeat their heroics of four years ago and are coming off a shocking 0-1 defeat at the hands of Serbia on free-kick goal.

The encounter, however, is crucial for both teams as they are yet to clinch a win in the tournament.

While Brazil are trailing group leaders Serbia by two points and are keen to pick up three points against a Costa Rica team, a defeat for the latter in the second match could see them eliminate from the showpiece event.

All eyes will be on Neymar, who was roughed up in the first match as he committed 10 fouls and he limped out of training early on Tuesday after appearing to hurt his right ankle. The star striker, however, returned to training the very next day and is all set to start for Brazil in the match.

In other clashes of ninth day, 48th-ranked Nigeria will take on 22nd-ranked Iceland in Group D while 34th placed Serbia will square off with sixth-placed Switzerland in another Group E clash.

Nigeria are heading into their second match following a 0-2 defeat at the hands of Croatia in the opener and now, they will be desperate to get their campaign back on track when they face Iceland in Volgograd Arena.
Iceland, on the other hand, are boosting with confidence after holding fifth-ranked Argentina to 1-1 stalemate in their opening fixture.

Meanwhile, Serbia will be look to seal a spot in the knockout stage of the World Cup knockout stage with a victory against Switzerland at Kaliningrad Stadium.

On a related note, the Brazil and Costa Rica squads are as follows:

BRAZIL

Goalkeepers: Alisson , Cassio , Ederson

Defenders: Danilo , Fagner , Marcelo, Filipe Luis, Miranda, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva , Geromel

Midfielders: Casemiro, Fernandinho , Paulinho , Renato Augusto , Fred , Philippe Coutinho , Willian Forwards: Neymar , Gabriel Jesus , Roberto Firmino , Douglas Costa , Taison

COSTA RICA

Goalkeepers: Keylor Navas , Patrick Pemberton, Leonel Moreira

Defenders: Cristian Gamboa, Ian Smith , Ronald Matarrita , Bryan Oviedo , Oscar Duarte, Giancarlo Gonzalez , Francisco Calvo , Kendall Waston, Johnny Acosta

Midfielders: David Guzman, Yeltsin Tejeda , Celso Borges, Randall Azofeifa, Rodney Wallace , Cristian Bolanos Bryan Ruiz

Forwards: Daniel Colindres, Joel Campbell, Johan Venegas , Marco Urena.

-ANI