Neymar plans to return to action at the World Cup despite posting a photograph on Saturday showing his ankle still badly swollen.
Neymar is receiving treatment for damaged ligaments in his right ankle after being injured in Brazil’s opening 2-0 win over Serbia on Thursday. Doctors for the Brazilian team reported that Neymar will miss Monday’s game against Switzerland but gave no details about a possible return of the star, nor did they say if he would see World Cup action again.
For his part, Neymar posted a message on Instagram saying he was going through “one of the most difficult moments of my career” but seemed optimistic about his possibility of returning. He posted two photos of his swollen ankle on an Instagram Story.
“I’m injured, yes, it’s boring, it’s going to hurt,” he said. “But I’m sure I’ll have the chance to come back because I’m going to do everything possible to help my country, my teammates and myself,” added the Brazilian star.
He pointed out that he has waited too long for this World Cup to leave like this.
“Nothing in my life was given or easy,” he wrote. “I always had to run after my dreams and my goals.”
The last time he missed out on a World Cup was because of a back injury suffered against Colombia in the 2014 quarterfinals. Brazil ended up suffering a humiliating 7-1 loss to Germany in the semifinals.
The PSG striker has been receiving physiotherapy treatment since he was injured. He also suffered a minor bone injury in the same foot after being attacked by the Serbian defense early on. He received nine fouls, the most by a player at the World Cup, in the first series of group stage games.
Neymar, 30, is the second highest scorer for the Brazilian team with 75 conquests, two less than Pelé. He helped the “Seleção” win the Confederations Cup in 2013 and their first gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, but has yet to win a major title with Brazil.
The coach of the Brazilian team, Tite, has not yet announced who will replace Neymar while the star is out of action. Tite will also be without right-back Danilo, who injured his ankle against Serbia.
Tite summoned nine attackers for the World Cup and could opt for another midfielder instead of Neymar.
“We are talking about one of the best players in the world. It is difficult to find someone else at his level,” midfielder Casemiro said on Saturday. “But we have a lot of quality players in the squad who could do a good job substituting for him.”
The most obvious alternative would be to employ Rodrygo, Casemiro’s Real Madrid teammate, in Neymar’s place and keep Raphinha, Vinicius Junior and Richarlison in the attacking block. Rodrygo works as an attacker with his team but has been seen training in Neymar’s 10 role with Brazil in Qatar.
Another variant would be to incorporate a midfield player in Neymar’s position. Fred (Manchester United) or Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle), for example, which would give wings to attacking midfielder Lucas Paquetá, who dropped back to play more closely with brand-name midfielder Casemiro against Serbia.
Tite could also turn to attacking midfielder Everton Ribeiro. Gabriel Jesús, Antony, Gabriel Martinelli and Pedro complete the cast of attackers.
Brazil, in pursuit of its first world championship in two decades, will meet Cameroon on the last date of their key. They could qualify for the round of 16 with a victory on Monday and if Cameroon fail to defeat Serbia in the other game of the day.