Brazil manager Tite has confirmed his starting XI for their round-of-16 tie against Mexico on Monday, with Marcelo dropping out due to injury.
Filipe Luis will replace him in what will be the only change to the side that beat Serbia in their final group game.
Tite said that Marcelo could still play some part in the match.
"In a normal and natural situation, there is a natural competition for starting spots," he said. "I cannot have unknown variables in this match, he could be hiding something, but he came to practice, he wants to participate, he shows the commitment as a team player and might be able to feature for 45, 60 minutes."
"At the end of the training, we talked, 'Can I count on you?' He said 'you can.'"
Tite says he intends to copy positive aspects of the win over Serbia.
"I hope the team maintains the standard of the two previous games, even more," he said. "We want to reproduce the physical, tactical, technical, emotional, and type of play like in the last match."
Fabio Mahseredjian -- part of Tite's backroom staff -- added that that Brazil must be "cautious" with their use of Marcelo.
"Marcelo practiced a little bit and also trained less," he said. "Yesterday he came to practice, he did only one specific drill, without issues.
"But this also makes me conclude that he loses a bit of reaction speed and causes us to be cautious in a 120-minute match [with extra time factored in]."
"Tomorrow the temperature is forecast to be 34 C and very humid, which could lead to increased exhaustion."