World Cup 2014 News, Schedule, Roster: Brazil to Play Without Neymar, Thiago Silva in Semis Match Against Germany

By John Santisteban | Jul 04, 2014 11:32 PM EDT

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Brazil will have to make major adjustments in their upcoming showdown against Germany as they are expected to play without two key players in the 2014 World Cup semifinals.

Multiple reports confirmed that Brazilian star Neymar will be out for the rest of the World Cup after sustaining a broken vertebra in their 2-1 win against Colombia in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Neymar went down screaming in pain in the 88th minute of the match after a collision with Juan Camilo Zuniga of Colombia, and team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar confirmed that the 22-year-old will miss the rest of the World Cup.

"It is a benign fracture," Lasmar said via ESPNFC. "This news is not easy, but he will not be available at this World Cup. The fracture does not require surgery. There will be a conservative treatment; [he] will need physiotherapy and comfort to ease the pain."

Aside from Neymar, Brazil will also have to play without defender Thiago Silva, who will not be available for Tuesday's match after picking up his second yellow card in the tournament.

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari is facing a tough decision ahead of him, but he is confident that his team is deep enough to have a great chance of winning two more matches in the tournament, which means that he is still optimistic that Brazil will win this year's World Cup.

"We have two more steps ahead of us and still have the capacity to climb up those two steps," Scolari said. "My role is to decide if we can change our tactical lineup and I will study this. It depends on how players recover, and I will look at our players."

Without Silva, Scolari could inset Henrique into the starting lineup after replacing Henrique on Friday's match, while Dante could also be called in to replace Silva.

"They are ready for this World Cup," Scolari said. "Henrique had some minutes to play and [all players] are dreaming to play for our national squad, but we will be well served."

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