“I’m not going back halfway”: the strong message from Neymar, who returned to the Al-Hilal group a year after the serious injury

On October 18, 2023, Neymar‘s season turned into a nightmare. Made his debut by Brazil in the 2026 World Cup qualifier lost to Uruguay (2-0), the former Parisian seriously injured the cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee. A year later, the 32-year-old striker is in Al-Hilal‘s group for Monday’s (6pm) trip to Al-Ain in the United Arab Emirates in the Asian Champions League.

After announcing the return of its star to collective training at the beginning of the week, the Saudi club made the news official through a video published on Saturday evening on X (formerly Twitter) and relaunched more than 2,000 times.

“Huge pain”

“The thing I love most in life is playing football. I suffer every day that I’m away from it. That’s what hurts me the most,” Neymar revealed via a video posted Saturday on YouTube from NR Sports, the agency that manages the communication of the former Barcelona player. In tears, the record holder for goals for Brazil (79, compared to Pelé’s 77) thought back to the difficult period of his injury.

“I felt enormous pain. I immediately understood that it was serious,” he explains, while a montage of the suffering suffered by the Auriverde player during his rehabilitation sessions is broadcast. “I’ve come back every time I’ve been injured, and I’m not going back halfway,” concludes Neymar , determined to play the 2026 World Cup with Brazil.

Transferred to Al-Hilal for over 90 million euros from PSG in the summer of 2023, the native of the Sao Paulo region played just five games in the shirt of his new club, still crowned Saudi Arabian champions last season .