Injury: Neymar could be out for at least 6 months – 10/18/2023 – Sport

The injury suffered by striker Neymar in the game against Uruguay on Tuesday night (17) could keep the Brazilian national team star sidelined until mid-2024. The player suffered a sprain in his left knee in the 2-0 defeat of the Brazil, in Montevideo, in the World Cup qualifiers. The preliminary clinical assessment by the team’s doctors indicated a suspected rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament.

Coordinator of the Biomechanics Laboratory at the School of Physical Education and Sport at USP (University of São Paulo), Júlio Cerca Serrão states that, considering Neymar’s movement that caused the injury, with the fixation and subsequent turning of the foot stuck on the pitch, Anterior cruciate ligament tear is quite likely.

“If he didn’t rupture, it’s because he’s a very lucky guy,” says Serrão, adding that it will be necessary to wait for the test results to confirm the injury and whether other regions of the player’s body were also affected. According to the expert, it is common for the meniscus to also be compromised when an injury of this type occurs.

The number 10 should take tests in São Paulo this Wednesday (18) in the early afternoon, with the expectation that the results will be known by the end of the day.

According to Serrão, once the rupture of the ligament is confirmed, the deadline for the player to return to the field is at least six months. The most common, however, is that it takes between eight and 12 months for the national team’s star to return to the field, says the expert.

Neymar has suffered from a long history of injuries in recent years. Considering what he suffered in the defeat to Uruguay, he already has 17 injuries that have taken him out of action since 2014.

This year alone, he has been away for around six months, having been absent from PSG between mid-February and August, after twisting his ankle in a match against Lille, in the French championship.

He had a similar problem at the World Cup in Qatar and did not play against Switzerland and Cameroon, still in the group stage. Even when he returned, in the round of 16 against South Korea, he was not in peak condition.

The injury is expected to rule the player out of the next rounds of the World Cup qualifiers, in November, when the Brazilian team, currently third placed, will face Colombia away from home and face leaders Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, at Maracanã.

For Al Hilal, where he made his debut on September 15th, the return should only occur when the Saudi championship is close to the end. The last round of the tournament is scheduled for May 27, 2024. If the tests confirm the rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament, the number 10’s return to the pitch should take place between April and July of next year.