Chelsea centre-back Thiago Silva has hailed his Brazil national teammate and Arsenal star Gabriel Martinelli for playing without fear.

Thiago Silva heaped praise on his national team-mate ahead of the World Cup opener with Serbia on Thursday, after a stunning call-up to the national team.

Thiago Silva said: “He’s playing without fear and, if he gets the chance to play, I don’t think it will faze him and he’ll just do what we know he can do.

“I think all attacking players at the top level need that little bit of arrogance – that they know they can do something special – and he has that.”