2023-10-19 22:33:00
Brazilian striker Neymar leaves the field crying in pain after an injury during the 2026 FIFA World Cup South American qualification soccer match between Uruguay and Brazil at the Centenario Stadium in Montevideo on October 17, 2023. The superstar of the soccer Neymar has a torn ligament and meniscus in his left knee and will require surgery after being injured during Brazil’s 2-0 loss to Uruguay, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) reported on October 18. (Photo by Pablo PORCIUNCULA / AFP)
Brazilian national team star Neymar suffered a torn cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee and will have to undergo surgery, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) reported this Wednesday.
“It is a very sad moment, the worst,” said the player on his social networks, where he thanked the messages of support.
According to the CBF press release “the attacker of the Brazilian national team and Al-Hilal, of Saudi Arabia, underwent clinical and imaging examinations that confirmed the rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus of the left knee.”
The entity specified that the date of the surgery has yet to be defined.
The forward was injured during Brazil’s defeat against Uruguay (2-0) on Tuesday in Montevideo, in a match for qualification for the 2026 World Cup.
Neymar left the field before half-time, crying and on a stretcher, after falling to the ground following a collision with Uruguayan midfielder Nicolás De la Cruz.
The attacker later left the Centenario stadium on crutches and with a splint that immobilized his left knee.
– Neymar: the “worst” moment –
His injury automatically leaves him out of Brazil’s next challenges in November: a visit to Colombia in Barranquilla and the classic at the Maracaná against Leo Messi’s Argentina.
«It is a very sad moment, the worst. I know I’m strong, but this time I’m going to need my family and friends even more,” the star wrote on Instagram, under a photo in which he appears on the field, from behind, with the number 10 on his shirt in the foreground.
“It’s not easy to go through an injury and surgery, imagine going through all that again, after four months recovered,” the player continued.
“I have faith, even too much… but I give strength to the hands of God, so that he can renew mine,” Neymar concluded in the publication.
Knee injuries are among the most common and serious in football.
The rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament is considered the most serious of them, and may require surgery that leaves the professional out of the fields for a minimum of six months.
Ednaldo Rodrigues, president of the CBF, assured that the player has “the full support of the entity.”
“Brazilian and world football needs Neymar well and recovered, because football is happier with him on the field,” Rodrigues said in a note.
– Chain injuries –
Neymar, 31, has experienced a year of multiple injuries and discreet performance.
He did not play a single official match between February and September mainly due to a serious ankle injury.
He joined the Saudi club Al-Hilal in August, after six seasons at Paris Saint-Germain.
During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Brazilian star was injured during the Seleçao’s first match against Serbia.
He recovered for the round of 16, but could not avoid the elimination of the ‘Canarinha’ in the quarterfinals against Croatia, on penalties, despite having scored a goal in extra time.
-Beating Pelé-
In September, however, he was able to celebrate having surpassed Pelé as the top scorer for the Brazilian men’s team by scoring two goals in the 5-1 victory over Bolivia on the first day of the South American World Cup qualifier.
The attacker reached 79 goals in 125 games, compared to the 77 goals scored by ‘O rei’ in 92 games played between 1957 and 1971.
‘Ney’ visited the Brazilian team’s jersey for the first time on August 10, 2010 in a friendly against the United States and, at the age of 18, he scored the first goal in the 2-0 victory.
Since then, he broke nets in the World Cups in Brazil-2014 (4), Russia-2018 (2) and Qatar (2). He also participated in Copa América (2011, 2015, 2021), Confederations Cup-2013 and South American qualifiers, in addition to preparatory matches.
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© Agence France-Presse
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