Brazil face potential midfield headache as Arthur taken off injured against Honduras

Brazil face a potential wait on the fitness of Arthur after the midfielder was taken off injured against Honduras following a horror tackle.

The Barcelona man was substituted off with a sore right knee following a two-footed challenge by Romell Quioto in the 29th minute at Estadio Beira-Rio, for which the latter was shown a straight red card.

Head coach Tite took no chances on the injury and Arthur has already begun treatment on the injury, with no exams anticipated for the time being.

Brazil were already 2-0 ahead at the time of the injury, with goals from Gabriel Jesus and Thiago Silva handing them the advantage, before they went on to add a further five goals against 10-man Honduras.

The Selecao are set to begin their Copa America campaign in six days as they look to regain their grasp on South American football having not won the tournament since 2007, with their opening fixture taking place on June 15 against Bolivia.

The 22-year-old has become a regular figure in Tite’s midfield over the course of the last season and was making his 10th appearance for his country prior to his withdrawal.

Arthur already has a La Liga title to his name having lifted Spain’s top domestic prize with Barcelona, making 44 appearances for the club across all competitions.

Brazil are also without their star forward Neymar for the Copa America on home soil after he damaged his right ankle in their previous warm-up game against Qatar.

The Paris Saint-Germain winger was taken off after 21 minutes before his side went on to win 2-0 thanks to first-half strikes from Richarlison and Jesus.

Neymar is undoubtedly one of the Selecao’s key men, currently sitting third in his country’s all-time goalscoring records with 60 goals in 97 games, bettered only by Pele and Ronaldo.

Tite opted to call up Chelsea winger Willian as the replacement for Neymar rather than the Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior.

Willian is an experienced player at international level, having won 63 caps and scored eight times since making his debut in November 2011.

The Los Blancos youngster, however, is yet to appear for Brazil’s senior team and most recently appeared for their Under-20 side in October 2018.

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