Brazilian star Neymar suffering from ankle injury, to miss next match on Monday

Brazil in the opening match against Serbia, registered a win by 2-1 in a Group G encounter at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar on Thursday. Meanwhile, the 30-year-old Paris Saint-Germain star collided with Nikola Milenkovic during the second half which caused him an injury.

Neymar did try to play for Brazil – also know as Selecao, was substituted with about 10 minutes to go and underwent an examination on Friday.

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Briefing more details, the doctor for the Brazilian football federation (CBF) Rodrigo Lasmar said that Neymar had suffered “ligament damage” and would miss the match against Switzerland on 28 November, to be played at Stadium 974.

Apart from Neymar, Brazil’s right-back Danilo will also miss the second Group G game with an ankle strain.

“We will not have these two players for our next match but they continue their treatment with the aim of recovering in time for the rest of the competition,” AFP quoted the doctor as saying in a video released by the CBF.

Though the Selecao coach Tite was optimistic after the Serbia match that Neymar would be back to lead Brazil’s bid for a record-extending sixth World Cup crown.

“You can be certain that Neymar is going to play in the World Cup,” Tite said, adding that the attacker had initially stayed on the pitch after hurting his ankle “because the team needed him”.

Injury saga:

The Paris Saint-Germain star’s career has been peppered by injuries which have impacted on his previous two World Cups.

He suffered a fractured bone in his back in the quarter-final win over Colombia in 2014, which resulted in him sidelined when the hosts were thrashed 7-1 by Germany in the semi-finals.

In 2018, despite he raced to recover from injury in time for the tournament in Russia, but Brazil never hit the expected heights before losing to Belgium in the last eight.

This time, Neymar arrived fit and firing in Qatar after a fantastic start to the season with PSG, in which he has scored 15 goals in 20 games.

As per expectations, Neymar is possibly playing his last World Cup, as this is his third one. He needs just two goals to equal Pele’s all-time record tally of 77 for the South American nation.

Brazil is the only them that had been successful to take part in in every single World Cup since its original edition in 1930. This is their 22nd appearance.

With AFP inputs.