(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The tiny Bernard will be in Brazilian football history books forever, not for his goals or play but for having stood in for the injured Neymar in Brazil's humiliating 7-1 defeat against Germany in last year's World Cup.
At the Copa America, Neymar received a four-match suspension and the "verdeamarela" will again face the tough task of replacing its superstar for the remainder of the tournament.
Bernard, like so many other players from that squad, is no longer part of the national team, and coach Carlos Dunga is now turning to Philippe Coutinho, 23. The talented Liverpool striker seems likely to play instead of suspended Neymar in Brazil's crucial match against Venezuela on Sunday.
"We lose our best player, but we have a strong group," Coutinho said.
Dunga has insisted on that too, forced as he is to boost the confidence and the conviction of a side without stars that is haunted by the memories of that 7-1 drubbing at home in the World Cup semi-finals.
Without outstanding players beyond Neymar, Dunga has built a well-organized, compact team that had won the 11 games it played with him as coach since the World Cup, until the 1-0 defeat to Colombia on Wednesday.
"Our goal has been to instil confidence and calm in these players.
"To show them how important they are for the national team, for their clubs, to make sure they acknowledge that they enjoy worldwide recognition, that they have been chosen by their clubs for their quality," said Dunga, who focuses on psychology nearly as much as he does on football.
One defeat and the initial knowledge that they will need to play at least one match without Neymar, however, were enough for uneasiness to set in, even if the situation is not quite what it was last year.
"Everything is very different. Neymar's World Cup injury impacted everyone because of how it happened. We saw him immobilized on the plane, and that affected us all," said veteran Fernandinho, one of the seven survivors of Brazil's World Cup squad.
"I am personally calm if Coutinho replaces him," Fernandinho, said of the
small striker who was by his side before the full extent of Neymar's suspension became known.
"He is playing in Europe and he is doing very well. He is one of the main players on his team and in English football, and he has also proved himself with the national team. If he is the stand-in, we are going to be well represented," Fernandinho insisted.
Nevertheless, Neymar's importance cannot be overstated. According to a
comparison that the daily Folha de Sao Paulo published on Friday,
Neymar has scored 27.8 per cent of Brazil's goals since he has been
playing for the national team.
The percentage is higher than those for other great Brazilian strikers in history, including the legendary Pele, who had help from Jairzinho, Tostao and Didi.
Neymar is already, at 23, the fifth most-prolific goalscorer in the history of the Brazilian national team, and he has scored eight goals in his last eight matches with Brazil.
"We need to learn to play without Neymar," Coutinho said ahead of a
friendly earlier this month in which Brazil beat Mexico 2-0 without their star striker.
Dunga and his men refer to that game, the only one they have played without Neymar since the new coach took charge after the World Cup, and highlight the good teamwork.
At the time, Dunga fielded Willian, Fred and Coutinho at midfield, and he is expected to do the same thing on Sunday with a berth in the Copa America quarter-finals at stake.
"Coutinho is a playmaker that everyone wants to play alongside. He is very creative," said fellow-midfielder Elias.
At Liverpool, Coutinho wears the number 10, which Neymar wears with the national team. He is right-footed and has strong technique as well as good vision of play. He has scored 16 goals in 102 matches at the club since joining in January 2013.
Earlier, he had played at Inter Milan, which signed him from Brazilian club Vasco da Gama when he was only 16, although he only joined them when he turned 18.
Last year, Coutinho was a starting striker for Liverpool coach Brendan
Rodgers, and he was voted the best player of the season by both Liverpool fans and his teammates after scoring eight goals in 51 games.
Today, Brazil need him to rise to the occasion like he has at Anfield, to prove they do not depend on Neymar quite so much.
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