Neymar, injured again :: Olé

Once again injuries complicate Neymar’s career. After waiting 371 days to play again in the Al Hilal shirt due to torn ligaments in his left knee, the Brazilian had returned to play a few weeks ago in the Asian Champions League. And this Monday, on match against Esteghlal of Iran, the star went out again due to an injury. Oh…

Neymar, who cannot play in the Saudi league because he is not registered on the list in good faith, He entered at 58′ of the match against the Iranian team. Ney was able to show some flashes of his category, but, at 87′ of play and after making an effort to go towards a ball in the area, He felt discomfort in the back of his right leg and immediately asked for a change.

The former Barcelona player had been left out of Brazil’s squad list for the double qualifying round for the next World Cup. Coach Dorival Junior had mentioned that they preferred Neymar to continue his recovery at the Saudi club.

There is still no official information about the injury, but if it is something muscular, he would be out of the courts for about 20 days again. Neymar had to wait more than a year to return to the field, after suffering a torn ligament and meniscus in his left knee on October 17, 2023 in a match that Uruguay beat Brazil in the Qualifiers.

Since then, an operation and subsequent recovery marginalized him from all competition, in the middle, he missed the Copa América in the United States, in which his team was left out in the quarterfinals.

Ney returned on October 21 against Hernan Crespo’s Al Ain, in that match, which was a 5-4 victory for Al Hilal. He entered the 77′ of play and he was there until the end of the match19 minutes in total if you count the added time. He took the field again this Monday, entering at 13′ of the complement and leaving at 42′‘. Since their return, they are 48 minutes that Neymar could be on the field.

Since his arrival at Barcelona, ​​injuries have cut short the São Paulo player’s career on more than one occasion. In this context, it is time to review Neymar’s injuries one by one since his departure from Santos.

2013/2014: two ankle injuries in the first half of 2014. Almost 50 days out.

2014/2015: It started with a vertebral fracture at the World Cup in Brazil (a month of recovery). Then, just a sprained ankle that sidelined him for just a week.

2015/2016: A virus and two muscle injuries worked against him that season. In sum, a month away.

2016/2017: two minor muscle problems, missing from the courts for just 14 days.

2017/2018: a blow to a rib, another to the ankle and two minor muscle problems had kept him away from the courts for less than a month (25-26 days). However, the hard part came in the first half of 2018, with a metatarsal fracture in one of his feet, taking him off the green grass for almost three months. He arrived with just enough to the World Cup in Russia.

2018/2019: A muscle problem had taken him away almost three weeks in the second half of 2018. However, the worst came in the first part of 2019, with a new metatarsal fracture in one of his feet: almost three months out. He returned, but at the end of that first semester, he injured the ligaments in one of his ankles and was inactive for two months, missing the Copa América.

2019/2020: just over a month and a half off the courts in that period due to a considerable muscle injury and an intercostal blow, already in 2020.

2020/2021: almost three months out in the total of that season, the result of a sprained ankle plus two adductor muscle problems.

2021/2022: One of his ankles played another trick on him between November and February, leaving him absent for almost two and a half months. A true ordeal.

2022/2023: He was relatively healthy, despite an accident to one of his ankles during the World Cup in Qatar (he missed two group stage matches). Already in 2023 he had only had a minor muscle problem, but the same ankle – right – injured in the World Cup did not forgive him. He had to be operated on because The evolution was not favorable and he missed almost the entire season.

2023: After a hand-to-hand dispute with Nicolás De La Cruz for the ball, he stepped wrongly and instantly felt pain in his left knee. He left the stadium on crutches. A day later the worst was confirmed: rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee. The most serious of his career.

Since then, what has already been mentioned: operation, recovery and more than a year out. The return and this new muscular discomfort for Neymar, a star whose physical condition continues to punish him.