The Brazilian was seriously injured while playing for the national team in 2023 and has now returned to the pitch. It was a spectacular exchange of blows.
Brazilian football star Neymar has returned to the pitch 368 days after tearing his cruciate ligament. The 32-year-old came on as a substitute in the 77th minute of his Saudi club Al-Hilal‘s 5:4 (3:1) away win at Al-Ain from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday. The game was a repeat of last season’s Asian Champions League (AFC) semi-final. At that time, Al-Hilal lost after the first and second leg to their rivals from the Emirates, trained by Hernán Crespo.
Neymar was visibly relieved when he returned to the pitch. He beamed and waved to the fans. He sustained the serious injury on October 18, 2023 during a game between the Brazilian national team and Uruguay. At that time, the Brazilian striker was carried off the pitch in tears and was diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee. He had just moved from Paris St. Germain to Saudi Arabia for around 90 million euros.
Due to the long forced break, he has only played a total of six games for Al-Hilal, one goal and three assists for his club from the Saudi Pro League. Coach Jorge Jesus’ team – champions and cup winners from last season – is currently undefeated in first place in the league.
The meeting between the two clubs in the AFC Champions League Elite was spectacular. Al-Hilal, which is peppered with stars from Europe, including Kalidou Koulibaly, Joao Cancelo, Ruben Neves, Malcom and Alexander Mitrovic, made a spectacular start to the game. Striker Salem al-Dawsari even scored a hat-trick, but reigning AFL champions Al-Ain never gave up and kept finding the back of the net.
With the score at 5:3 for Al-Hilal, Neymar even had the sixth goal for his team in the 87th minute, but his shot was narrowly missed by the opposing goalkeeper. In the 97th minute, Al-Ain came within 4:5 after Soufiane Rahimi converted a penalty. It was his third goal of the game.
After winning the top game, Al-Hilal leads Group A of the Asian premier class with three wins from three games.