A long day for captain Silva

As part of Tite's rotational policy, Thiago Silva will don the captain's arm-band in Brazil's game against Costa Rica today.

The central defender considered it an honour during a pre-match briefing, but said that contributing in the game was more important than donning the armband.

He also said that it would be a difficult match in a different conditions in a city which will have the longest days for the next four days.

"We have been updated about it individually. The best thing is that we better switch off our cell phones and stop talking to friends at night so that we can sleep," Thiago told reporters.

The sun will rise in Saint Petersburgh from June 21 to June 24 at 4.35am and will set 11.25pm, meaning that the day will last for 18 hours and 50 minutes.

Silva was however confident of putting behind the first-match disappointment against Switzerland. That match had ended in a 1-1 draw.

"We are fully aware of who we will we be facing tomorrow. We have been training for the past few days to minimize the mistakes we made in the first game," he added, before leaving in the middle of the briefing to attend training.

Once he left, a question was raised to Brazilian coach Tite regarding Silva's elevation to captain in the backdrop of huge criticism against players including Silva, who cried openly after a defeat in a Copa America game.

But Tite, who introduced this rotational policy after taking the reigns at a time when Brazil were languishing in World Cup qualifying, said with a smile on his face: "If I have to choose a player [that did not cry] then I might end up not finding a single player to play for Brazil."

Left-back Marcelo was the captain in the opening game, while Gabriel Jesus became one of the youngest Brazilians to don the armband in the final pre-World Cup friendly against Croatia.