Brazil forward, Neymar Jr, as stretchered off the field in the Selecao’s 2-0 loss away to Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay in Montevideo last night.
The 31-year-old was seen leaving the stadium in crutches after going down in a heap after a challenge from midfielder Nicolas de la Cruz which had little contact but Neymar’s landing caused the former Santos attacker to be in tears on the field.
The extent to his injury has not yet been confirmed but a Sports Medicine Doctor, Brian Sutterer, speculated on social media site, X, that the video of Neymar’s injury suggests it could be Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury to the left knee.
Brazil went on to suffer a 2-0 defeat to Uruguay, which followed their surprise 1-1 draw at home to Venezuela the other day in CONMEBOL qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Under the management of interim coach Fernando Diniz, who remains in charge of Fluminense, Brazil have picked up seven points from their opening four matches and are already five points behind world champions, Argentina.
There is an expectation that current Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti, will take charge of the side at the end of the 2023/24 campaign, either before or after the 2024 CONMEBOL Copa America, with the 2026 FIFA World Cup held in North America the over arching goal.
Neymar joined Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal over the summer transfer window from French champions, Paris Saint-Germain, for a fee believed to be in the region of 90 million euros.
The former Barcelona winger, who is Brazil’s leading goal scorer with 79 strikes in 127 caps for the national team, has had a stop-start beginning to his career in Saudi Arabia, making just five appearances and scoring just one goal for the current Saudi league leaders so far this season.
