Neymar is not as much of a threat when he is playing for Brazil as he is when he plays for Barcelona, says Uruguay coach Oscar Washington Tabarez.
Tabarez added that Uruguay will do nothing special to defend against the 24-year-old when the two teams meet on Thursday in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying in Brazil.
"The Neymar of Brazil plays very differently to the Neymar of Barcelona, at least in regard to his position on the field. They have a defensive point that is very solid, those are their central midfielders. They all work to recover. When it comes time to attack they try to move the ball, but almost all the plays end up at the feet of William or Douglas Costa and from there the one-on-one situations start," the Celeste coach told Uruguay newspaper Ovacion.
"Right from there, the attacking schemes they carry out are difficult and that is what we must control. They are not an oppressive team who go out to impose their plan from the first moment, but what happens is that as the match moves along, at least with Peru, they were able to dominate."
Uruguay currently have nine points in CONMEBOL qualifying, three behind leaders Ecuador while Brazil are in a three-way tie in third place with seven points along with Paraguay and Chile.
Neymar, who was named to the three-man shortlist for the Ballon d'Or award for 2015, helped Barcelona to the Treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League titles last season. Barca are on track to defend all three crowns this campaign.
Tabarez said Uruguay have no defensive strategy specific to Neymar. In the 3-0 win over Peru, Brazil coach Dunga abandoned the fixed centre-forward role for his team captain in favour of handing Neymar a roving role.
"We aren't going to pinpoint and isolate him with a man-to-man scheme. When he played against Peru, he was totally on his own without any obligation to be at the front of the attack and he played at forward," Tabarez said. "We are going to adapt to the circumstance, but not with the thinking that Brazil depend exclusively upon him. That is not how it is -- beyond that he is a great football player."