Brazil Fitness Coach Provides Neymar Update Ahead of World Cup: 'He'll Be Ready'

Neymar's recovery from a foot injury is advancing "better than expected," and "he'll be ready" for the start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup next month, according to Brazil fitness coach Fabio Mahseredjian. 

It is not yet confirmed, though, whether he will play any part in Brazil's warm-up fixtures against Croatia and Austria on June 3 and June 10, respectively.

Neymar has been out of action with a foot injury suffered while playing for Paris Saint-Germain back in February, but Mahseredjian insisted he will be fully fit for the tournament in Russia, per Virtudes Sanchez of Marca:

"Neymar is recovering better than expected. Until the start of the World Cup, he'll be training with the group for another month. He'll be ready, he's already training with the ball, dribbling and now we're going to try and advance his process.

"I can't comment on the expectation that he'll participate in those matches [against Croatia and Austria]. He plays at a very high level, and he can do unique things to help us. However, we don't know how much more time he'll need."

Brazil's 2018 World Cup campaign kicks off with their Group E clash against Switzerland on June 17, followed by fixtures versus Costa Rica and Serbia.

The Selecao have more than enough quality in their ranks to win all three of those matches even without Neymar.

However, the 26-year-old will likely be eager to return to action as early as possible so he can work on getting back to full match fitness for the latter stages of the tournament.

Neymar is arguably Brazil's most important player, and the five-time World Cup winners will need him at his best if they are to add a sixth trophy to their cabinet.

He was absent four years ago for the semi-final of Brazil's home World Cup when they ended up losing 7-1 to Germany, the eventual champions.

Manager Tite has done an excellent job in guiding Brazil in the aftermath of that humiliation, and they go into the 2018 World Cup as one of the favourites.

Mahseredjian's latest update on Neymar is likely to give Brazil fans a huge boost as the tournament nears, although it seems unlikely the former Barcelona man will return to competitive action before the clash with Switzerland at the Rostov Arena.